Hogwarts Year Two
by Medico69
Summary: Harry and Hermione's second year at Hogwarts. What will happen this time, since Voldemort is locked away in the Dept. of Mysteries? Who will end up in the Chamber of Secrets? You will have to read to find out the answers.
1. Chapter 1

**Hogwarts Year Two**

**Summer**

It felt good to be out of school for a few months. Harry, Hermione, and Neville had enjoyed the quiet ride on the Hogwarts Express back to London. They had discussed several of the happening the from the past school year all three agreed they were glad it was over. When they got off the train it wasn't long before the threesome saw their families all standing together, of course it was hard to miss Augusta Longbottom's hat even in the crowd.

Harry made sure that he invited Neville over for the summer, in his mind trying to decide if Neville would like to go to Peaks if he and Hermione went. Augusta said that it should be fine for Neville to visit often, she was so proud of her grandson now. As everyone was getting ready to leave Fred and George came up and said they wanted Harry and Hermione to come visit, or at least send prank suggestions. In the background they could hear Mrs. Weasley yelling about a zipper on Ron's mouth; maybe she needed one Harry thought.

Hermione and her parents would be over to the Potter Manor later, they were going home first to spend some family time. That night Rick, Remus, Lucy, and Sirius listened to Harry tell about his term since his last visit home. They were all very interested in what happened to Quirrell, but were glad Voldemort had been captured. Remus was amazed at the spells Harry and Hermione had learned from the books in the Gryffindor library. Both Remus and Sirius, even though he had been there, wanted to hear more about the founders quarters and what else might be found there.

At breakfast the next morning Harry was surprised to receive a letter from Ragnok asking if Harry could come see him. Harry showed the letter to the adults and it was agreed that Remus would accompany Harry to see Ragnok, Sirius had to work and Rick was still hiding his relationship with Harry from the public.

When they arrived at the bank Harry and Remus were shown to Ragnok's office almost immediately. Ragnok didn't waste any time and got down to business. "Harry, it has come to our attention that you have fought and defeated Voldemort once a gain. By doing this for a second time you have the right to claim the Magical Heir status for the house of Slytherin. That would give you control of that house. We would need to do a simple test of course to validate your claim", Ragnok said.

Harry looked at Remus for his opinion, Remus thought for a few seconds before saying he didn't see any reason not to do this. Once again Harry used the silver needle to prick his finger and place the required drop of blood on the parchment. The parchment glowed and a small box appeared on Ragnok's desk. The box had a serpent carved on top and it didn't seem to have any type of lock that Harry could see. Ragnok tried to open the box but could not so he handed it to Harry saying maybe only the heir could open it.

As soon as Harry had the box in his hand it glowed briefly and Harry heard a voice in his head, the voice of a snake. The voice asked if he thought he was entitled to the contents. Harry answered "Yes". The box opened to reveal a snake-head ring silver in color with a green stone in the center. Harry removed the ring and examined it closely, and then asked if maybe it should be tested for curses and such. Remus appeared proud that Harry had thought of that, he didn't think most 12 year old kids would.

The ring was checked by both Remus and Ragnok and no curses were found. Harry put the ring on his right middle finger, it re-sized to fit him. Harry glowed green for a few seconds and got a surprised look on his face. Remus asked if anything was wrong but Harry just said he had received a better understanding of his Parseltounge ability and that he now seemed to know several more spells. The spell knowledge was worrisome to Remus; what if the spells were dark? Remus asked what type of spells and Harry said one of them allowed someone else to understand Parseltounge for a short time, but not speak it.

What Harry didn't tell Remus was that two of the spells were the same as the spells he had learned from the Gryffindor books, the one to end possession and the one to capture the possession. That seemed to make him feel better knowing that Godric and Salazar both knew the spell, and it seemed that they had been the ones to create it.

It was a week later when Hermione came over, with her parents, for supper. The two spent time flying and playing catch until supper was ready. During supper Dan and Emma both mentioned their concern that the three kids had to discover that their professor was possessed, shouldn't the headmaster have been able to see that the concerned parents asked. Then the conversation turned to what the kids were going to do that summer. Hermione said she thought it would be a good idea to go back to Peaks and that they should invite Neville too.

Harry agreed that going to Peaks was a good idea as there he could get answers to questions he couldn't ask at Hogwarts. He really liked the idea of taking Neville with them, if Neville could go and was interested of course. It was decided that Harry would talk with Neville the next day about Peaks, and see if he was interested. Hermione was asked if she had been able to copy that book of Gryffindor spells and she said she had it with her on her bracelet, along with a couple of others.

After the meal Harry, Hermione, and the adults sat in the library and looked over the books Hermione had copied from the Gryffindor library. Remus was especially interested in the possession spells, both detection and removal. Sirius was interested in the Imperio detection spell, he said that one would really come in handy to the DMLE and the Wizengamot. Rick said his people would be interested in that one too.

The next day Harry called Neville and invited him over. When Neville showed up the two boys and Hermione went outside to talk and to have fun. "Neville, I'm sure you noticed that Hermione and I seem to have an easier time in school than most. The reason for that is that we both have been going to a school in America each summer and are really two years ahead in our studies. It was at this school that we learned about elementals and found out how to call them. We wanted to know if you would be interested in going with us this summer. It is a full year compressed into a month due to time compression usage. And since the summer term has less students, usually, it allows the teachers to spend more time with the ones who need extra help, plus they cover a lot of things that Hogwarts doesn't. So, what do you say mate?", Harry explained, much to Neville's amazement.

Neville said he would love to go, but he had to ask "Gran" and she would probably have many questions. Harry was sure Rick, Sirius, Remus, or Lucy could answer those questions. The kids went inside to call Neville's "Gran" only to find her sitting there talking to Sirius and Lucy. Neville asked about going with Harry and Hermione for the summer and was surprised when "Gran" said she thought it would be a good idea. She went on to say that Neville being friends with the other two had made him up and learn more, and she wanted it to continue. Augusta Longbottom was a surprise to Neville and she did have a few hundred questions. Most of the questions were answered by Lucy, since she had been one of the staff there in the past.

Harry whispered a question to Neville, "Does she know about your elemental?", Neville said "no". "Mrs. Longbottom, I think there is something you need to know. If you don't mind, could you step outside with us for a minute. Sirius and Lucy already know this, well most of it, but since Neville is to go to Peaks then you should also", Harry said rather politely.

Everyone went outside and Harry asked the adults to please hold all questions and comments until after they finished, it would save time for everyone. Harry called first his Fire elemental, that caused Augusta to step back, then he called his Air elemental. Next he asked Hermione to follow suit, now Augusta looked very surprised. When Neville called his elemental Augusta Longbottom almost fainted, even Lucy and Sirius were taken back.

"If you learned this at that school in America then how did Neville learn it", Augusta asked, once she got her strength back.

Harry explained how that had happened and when. When Lucy heard that Harry had been able to create the elemental rods, with the help of the Goblins, she was almost speechless. Her first comment was to ask if Alana knew about this; Harry told her no, nobody but the five of them, and the Goblins, knew about it. Lucy asked if Neville had named his elemental yet and he replied that he had.

"Everyone, I would like to introduce my Earth elemental Rocky. Rocky this is my "Gran" she is the one who raised me, "Gran" this Rocky – next to Harry and Hermione my best friend", Neville explained.

Harry continued that line by introducing Firebeard and Windford next Hermione introduced Windy, followed by Lucy calling and introducing Windermere to Augusta. After the introductions Lucy explained how she acquired an elemental to Augusta, who looked at Sirius expecting him to do the same – but he just shook his no. Hermione explained that the older the witch or wizard was the harder it was to learn to call an elemental. Augusta said she was too old to worry about calling an elemental but she was very proud of Neville.

That same day they contacted Alana to ask permission to attend the summer session and to have Neville join them there. Alana said she was hoping that the two best students were coming that summer and she would be glad to accept Neville (as long as his parent or guardian came to sign the forms) and would send the book and equipment lists out that very day. Augusta asked if they could get everything in Diagon Alley and was informed that what wasn't available there was available close to the school.

It was the weekend before the 1st of July when three students, 2 old and one new, plus three adults, Sirius, Lucy, and Augusta, arrived at Peaks school. Alana met them and escorted them to her office to do the paperwork for Neville. After getting the admission forms filled out, Alana asked if Neville knew what classes he wanted to take. This was a surprise to Neville and his Gran, they had assumed that he would just take 2nd year classes. Alana explained that she had acquired a copy of Neville's scores from Hogwarts and some of the classes he had taken didn't exist at Peaks, and some of them were below standards. Alana suggested that Neville take some placement exams the next day so they could get him setup before school started on Monday.

The next thing was to get Neville sorted into a house at Peaks. This was when Harry spoke up and said Neville should be in the Earth house as he could call an Earth elemental. Alana was surprised, as most transfer students had no idea how to call elementals. Harry explained that he had been able to, with Goblin help, create all four elemental rods and Neville had called an Earth elemental and had a weak attraction to Water.

Alana asked if she could see these rods sometime and Harry pulled them out and expanded them before handing them to her. When she looked at the construction she saw they were very well crafted and the Air Rod seemed almost alive to her, she was an Air Elementalist after all. She asked Harry how he had made them and was told that the Water and Earth were made by a Goblin, but the Fire and Air were made by him and his elementals.

"Are you saying that the elementals help make these two themselves? That is most unusual, in fact I don't believe I've ever heard of it happening.", Alana replied. Alana just shook her head and handed the rods back to Harry. "Now how about you two, Harry and Hermione, what classes are you wanting?", Alana continued.

Harry said he wanted to take Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Runes, Arithmancy, Defense, and Occlumency. Hermione wanted the same except instead of Occlumency, she wanted something related to spell-crafting. Alana said that their choices shouldn't be any problem. Harry added that if there was time enough he would like to talk with Grimstead about wards, as he had a few questions. Alana said the Grimstead was going to be at the school for the summer session so that shouldn't be a problem either.

The next morning while Neville took his placement exams, Harry and Hermione went flying. Sirius, Lucy, and Augusta took a tour of the school and surrounding area. Augusta was quite taken by the amount of space the school occupied. It was around 3pm before Alana summoned them all back to her office to go over Neville's scores. His Herbology score was at a fourth year level, while his scores in the basics (Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, and Defense) were average for a student going into 2nd year.

Neville decided that he wanted to take Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Defense, and Herbology. Alana suggested he also include Occlumency so nobody at Hogwarts could pull the fact he had attended Peaks from his mind, Neville agreed to taking the entry level course. That afternoon they went to get supplies for the three students. Neville and Augusta were both surprised to see what was available in the magical shopping area and how modern it was – they even had computers in the stores to ring sales on.

Sunday night Neville was introduced to his head of house and his housemates. He was shown to the house table and heard Alana explain that the house tables were only used for opening and closing meals, the rest of the time students sat where they wanted. Neville was nervous, he wasn't sure about this time compression thing.

When Neville woke up the next morning he didn't notice anything different, maybe they didn't activate the time compression yet. When he got downstairs he found that Harry and Hermione were already there and had another student sitting with them. Hermione introduced Terri as one of her housemates and a friend from before at Peaks.

Harry, Hermione, and Terri had Charms first, while Neville left to go to Herbology. When Neville got to the greenhouse he found that there were only 9 other students in the class for 3rd years. The instructor was his head of house and told Neville to see him that night to get to know each other better. The first class was a review of what had been covered in 2nd year by the other students, but Neville had few problems keeping up. It was then that Neville sadly realized that Harry and Hermione wouldn't have many, if any, classes with him.

The four met up at supper and reviewed their day with each other. Harry and Hermione both told Neville if he had any problems to let them know and they would help him with his studies, Terri even said she would be glad to help out too. Harry mentioned that he and Hermione had been drafted to help out with 1st year flying lessons again. That was when Neville noticed the badges and patches on both Harry and Hermione's robes and asked about them. Hermione explained all them to Neville.

That night Neville met with his head of house and was asked to call his elemental and offered a wand. Neville just asked Rocky to appear, this shocked his head of house as most second years still had to use the wand. The head of house was further surprised when Rocky was so large and well formed. The teacher went over some of the stuff Neville hadn't covered before so Neville would be up to date.

When the teacher showed Neville a sample of some new plants, Neville recognized it right away as his hybrid and told the teacher so. The teacher didn't believe him and challenged Neville to prove he had been the one to create the plants. Neville thought for a few seconds and then simply asked Rocky to get a cutting from one of the other hybrids in Neville's private greenhouse. Rock was only gone for about 30 minutes before returning with the cutting, the teacher still didn't believe Neville. Neville swore an oath on his magic that he had created the plants, this convinced the teacher.

Meanwhile, Harry was meeting with his head of house who had heard about Harry creating his own elemental rods and he wanted to see them. After examining the rods for a few minutes the head of house for Air was summoned, he too examined the rods and told Harry there was no way a 3rd year student created those rods. That argument didn't last long when Harry asked his elementals to see if the ones who had helped would make an appearance. The adult elementals showed up and now both heads were convinced of Harry's claim.

It was the second weekend before Harry was able to catch up with Grimstead and talk with him. Grimstead suggested that Harry spend some time with him each Saturday so they could explore Harry's questions and expand Harry's knowledge of wards. When Harry mentioned the moving of the ward stone at Hogwarts Grimstead said someone was a fool, "You never move a ward stone while the wards are active". Grimstead said he would be glad to teach Harry how to correct that mistake.

Over the next few weeks Harry learned how to safely move the ward stone at Hogwarts back into contact with the Earth so it would draw power correctly. Harry also made arrangements to connect the wards at #4 to Petunia instead of himself permanently, instead of just temporarily like they were now.

Since they were in different years and classes, the threesome only saw each other during meals and on weekends. Hermione was helping Neville with some of his studies while Harry was learning from Grimstead. But Neville was teaching Hermione and Harry about Herbology so they would be more prepared when they went back to Hogwarts in the fall.

Neville was so used to seeing Harry and Hermione play on the same team that it was interesting to see them play on opposite teams, even if they played the same positions as usual. Neville just wished he was better with a broom, Harry and Hermione looked like they were having a ball out on the pitch.

o~o~o~o

Meanwhile back in England, Dumbledore was at the Weasley house talking with Molly Weasley. Dumbledore suggested that Molly make sure that Ginny take a strong interest in Harry, he even suggested the use of a "love" potion if needed. Ginny had overheard this and decided that Harry needed to know what was being planned. She liked Harry but not that way.

While Snape didn't really care for Harry Potter, he wasn't too happy when the headmaster suggested he make several "love" potions for the Weasley kids to use on Potter and Granger. That went against what Snape thought was right; after all, Potter was Lily's son and he still carried strong feelings for her.

It wasn't well known, but Lucius Malfoy had only received a short sentence in prison and was scheduled to be released just after the 1st of August. Malfoy Sr. had plans for that brat Potter, he had a cursed book that had belonged to The Dark Lord and he intended to somehow sneak that book into Hogwarts and let it cause as much trouble as it could. Since nobody was aware of the capture of the spirit of Voldemort, Lucius didn't know that what he was planning would be upsetting to The Dark Lord – very upsetting.

o~o~o~o

The summer session was just about over, only two weeks left and all the students were getting ready for exams. It wasn't unusual to see Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Terri together in the library or the great hall studying together. The three 3rd years were helping Neville with 2nd year work and Neville was teaching them Herbology. Neville had really progressed in his Charms and Transfiguration under Harry and Hermione's tutelage, he was third in his house and fourth overall in the school for his year.

It was the last weekend before exams and Harry and Hermione had been summoned to see Grimstead. When they got to his office they were told they were to take an exam on staff usage to see if they had improved. Grimstead took they outside and had them each do a series of spells using their staff. Grimstead was disappointed, their level wasn't much above what it had been last year. This showed that they hadn't been using a staff much. Grimstead explained that if they didn't use it more they would never reach their potential.

Harry and Hermione tried to explain that Hogwarts didn't allow the use of staffs, in fact they were not even mentioned. That was all the more reason to practice Grimstead told them, that way they would have an advantage if they had to defend themselves, or others. Then Grimstead told Harry something, the fact that Harry's staff contained Earth compounds showed he should be able to work with the Earth better and draw on the Ley lines easier than most wizards.

This reminded Harry what had happened in the great hall, he had used his staff and had drawn much more power than he had ever used before. In fact it was that extra power he had put into the ward stone in the great hall after the battle. When he told Grimstead about that, Grimstead told Harry to show him that he could tap into that power. Harry slammed his staff onto the ground and pulled power. Harry started to glow, and the glow got brighter and brighter until both Hermione and Grimstead had to look away.

Then Grimstead said to return the power to the Earth instead of just using it to make fireworks or something as wasteful. Harry said he didn't know how to do that, Grimstead said to just reverse the process – instead of pulling power in, push power out and into the ground. Harry took a deep breath and started to push his power into the staff and into the ground. There was an earthquake that was felt in several places within a 100 mile radius of Harry. Students and staff came running out of the school, even Alana came out. Grimstead just told everyone not to worry it was just someone's first attempt to release power.

After everything had settled down, Grimstead explained what Harry had done wrong. Harry had put too much power back too fast. "Don't push so hard, it doesn't come that fast so it can't go back that fast", was the explanation given by Grimstead. Now it was Hermione's turn to try.

Hermione didn't slam her staff onto the ground but placed it firmly. She felt the power flowing into her and started to glow brighter and brighter. When told to release the power back into the earth she gave a small push and it started to leave her and return to the Ley lines. There was no earthquake, just a dimming of the power she had drawn. Grimstead told her that was the way to do it; Hermione just smiled at Harry. Harry said she had the benefit of Grimstead telling her how to do it first, where he had to figure it out by himself. All three of them started laughing then.

Summer session was over and they were at the leaving feast. Neville got an award for his work in Herbology and the other two got recognition again for being the top of their class and year. The next morning the threesome would wake up and be in normal time again, then it would be time to go have fun, and celebrate Harry and Neville's birthdays.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, we now have the start of the second year, I will follow JKR example and start each year with the summer activities. Well Neville has named his elemental. What do you think of their courses?**

**Please be kind and leave a review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hogwarts Year Two**

**Summer 1 (part 2)**

When Harry, Hermione, and Neville awoke the next day it was time to return to the "real" world. The time compression had ended while they slept and their guardians would be waiting for them. The threesome joined their friends for breakfast, said their "goodbyes", and then left the school. When they arrived at their destination they found Rick, Sirius, and Lucy, but no Augusta.

Rick explained that Neville's grandmother had decided to remain in England, but had sent Neville a package. When he opened the package Neville found a letter and the Longbottom family ring. Rick cautioned Neville not to put the ring on until after reading the letter.

_Neville,_

_I hope you are well and that you enjoyed the summer school session. I have been made aware of your achievements at that school and I am proud of you. I understand now that it was my forcing you to use your father's wand that held you back in your magical development. Enclosed you will find the Longbottom family ring, it is your right to wear it now that you have come into your powers._

_I know you aren't of age yet but the ring should accept you, if it doesn't then we will have to wait until you turn seventeen and try again. Mr. Black will explain what you must do and say when you put the ring on, follow his instructions and you should have no problems. Once again, I am very proud of you and you have shown that you, Neville, will be a good family leader. But, don't be in any hurry to give me great-grandchildren._

_Love,_

_Gran_

After reading the letter Neville found another piece of parchment, it was a proxy so Augusta Longbottom could hold and vote the Longbottom place on the Wizengamot until Neville reached age of majority. Neville understood that the proxy would only be needed if the ring accepted him. He asked Sirius what he needed to do and Sirius explained.

Neville placed the ring on his right ring finger and was surprised when it adjusted to fit and even more surprised when he felt his magic expand in side. Neville repeated the words Sirius had told him to say and was surrounded by a brief flash of magic. When Neville said that as head of the Longbottom family he released all binding on his magic the others were almost knocked down by the resulting surge.

Lucy immediately did diagnostic charms on Neville and found that there were several bindings, or the remnants there of, still present. She told Neville, and the rest that two of the bindings had the same signature as those on Harry before he was unbound – Dumbledore's. In a way this didn't surprise anyone, Dumbledore was the only person the two boys had in common, the question was why had this been done.

Lucy suggested they go and test Neville to see how much his magic had changed. The six of them went outside to an area set aside for magical use and dueling. Lucy setup the targets and asked Neville to only use what felt appropriate to hit the targets. Neville let loose with a stunner and Lucy noted the readings. Next she asked that he put as much power as he could into the spell, the results were noted and Lucy removed the targets.

"Neville, your power has increased. The first time I measured your power you were at a 26, normal for your age. This time your causal casting showed you at 40, but your full power casting was an amazing 75. You are almost as strong as Hermione but still below Harry's level. At this rate you will be another very strong wizard like Harry", Lucy explained.

Harry asked what was on the agenda for the rest of the summer and was told that Augusta had said that Neville could spend it with his two friends and they had decided to take Neville to see Disneyworld. Neville looked puzzled but Harry and Hermione looked excited and explained what an amusement park was. Rick said they were going to see both Disneyland and Disneyworld so they could compare the two places. But they wouldn't start until the next day as all three adults wanted to hear what the threesome had learned in school.

The rest of the day was spent getting Neville some appropriate clothes, so he wouldn't stand out on the mundane side of the parks, and telling the three adults about school and the awards. Harry did say that he wanted to get back to Privet Drive before Hogwarts as he intended to change the wards there so they depended on Petunia instead of him and he intended to create real blood wards there in place of the pitiful ones by Dumbledore.

Bright and early on Monday morning Harry, Hermione, and Neville were up and out for their run. Neville had progressed so that he could now keep up with his friends lasting the complete time and distance. The kids were doing their "cool down" walk when they heard someone calling for help. The three ran toward the cries and found a young girl standing on the beach and a young boy was seen far out in the water.

The girl said it was her brother and he was caught in a riptide and was being swept out to sea. Both Harry and Hermione summoned their Air Elementals and were off before even thinking. It didn't take the two long to get the boy and return to the shore to find Neville standing over two older boys lying on the sand. Neville explained that the two boys had started picking on the young girl and that he had to subdue them. The boy Harry and Hermione had rescued wasn't breathing so Harry took him straight to Lucy at the house.

Lucy had no problem reviving the boy; Rick and Sirius went with Harry to return the boy to his sister and to see about Neville. The two boys were still lying on the sand and the girl was hysterical because her brother was missing. Sirius told Harry and Hermione to get wet so they could explain how they had rescued the boy and he would take care of the the other two.

When Harry and Hermione returned from the water they found a big shaggy dog sitting by Rick shortly there after two police officers came to take a report. Rick explained that Harry's dog had come back without him and he had followed the dog to the beach where he found Harry and Hermione dragging the young boy out of the water unconscious. He had started CPR and the boy was okay it seemed, but needed to be checked out at the hospital and his parents called. When asked about the two other boys Neville explained, as he had been told, what had happened – the boys tried to attack the young girl and himself, he had "punched" them out. One of the officers recognized the boys as "trouble makers" he had dealt with before and placed them in handcuffs.

It was only after everyone was back at the house that Rick told the threesome they had managed to get outside the wards and onto the public beach. The trip to Disneyland was put off until the next day so they could check up on the young boy and girl, and so that Neville could be schooled in correct behavior around mundanes, or muggles as they were called in England, and not cause a problem. Part of the day was spent getting Neville a wand holster like Harry and Hermione had, one that would keep the wand secure and hidden even in the water.

The six went to see the young girl and boy, and their parents. The threesome were hugged and had their hands shaken almost off by the parents. It came out that the girl and boy were eight and seven respectively and had sneaked out of the house to go swimming without their parents. The boy, Tommy, had been given a clean bill of health by the hospital, but told to rest the rest of the day. It turned out the family was going to Disneyland the next day, so the two "families" decided to go together (at least to the normal side of the park).

The parents, Sally and Dick Jones, wondered why three young children were out so early in the morning alone, but Rick explained that they were used to running each morning and had never caused any trouble as they did their run and came home for breakfast. It was decided that the two families would meet at IHOP for breakfast the next morning and then go to the park for the day.

When they returned home that evening Lucy said one of the kids needed to learn first-aid and simple medical diagnostics in case of emergencies; Hermione volunteered to be taught since that was an interest of hers. Harry and Neville also learned basic magical first-aid but were asked why they didn't use their wands to get the boy from the water, they said they just reacted. It did come out Neville had done his stunners without a wand as his was at the house.

The next morning, after the kids had finished their run, Neville was introduced to IHOP and made like Ron Weasley in that he made a pig of himself on the all you can eat pancakes. Harry and Hermione teased him about it endlessly and explained that Ron was a schoolmate with a bottomless pit for a stomach and poor manners. This was the first time at Disneyland for Neville, Tommy, and Sally (the young girl) so there were at least three dropped jaws when they got to the park. Rick had already gotten the threesome full pass bracelets for the park and insisted that Tommy and Sally have them also, his treat.

Over the next three days the kids had a ball and the adults were worn out. It was decided that Sirius was the biggest kid of all as he rode anything the kids rode, except the tame rides, and rode the biggest roller coaster at least ten times. On Friday Rick, Sirius, and Lucy talked the Jones family into joining them at Seaworld so Sally and Tommy could enjoy it with Harry, Hermione, and Neville. It turned out the Jones family was running low on funds so it was arranged for them to win a contest with a $5,000 cash prize. Both families had fun, but all too soon it was time for the Jones family to go home.

On Monday the six of them went back to Disneyland, but to the magical side, for another two days. Neville had a ball and even entered one of the dueling matches for his age group and won. Sirius also dueled he won his match, but the highlight was when Harry challenged Sirius to a duel and Sirius was hard pressed to win. When some older boys tried to harass Hermione they found out she wasn't one to be picked on, she had them down and bound very quickly and it took two security guards to remove the bindings before escorting the two out of the park. Harry and Neville both said they would never make Hermione mad at them, they liked walking around too much.

That night when they got back to the house Rick, Lucy, and Sirius wanted to know why the two boys had zippers on their mouths. Hermione explained that most people were helpless if they couldn't say their spells, even in a whisper, so that she had removed that ability first. Sirius wanted to know how to do that spell, he said it would come in handy at work on some of the "wind bags", and Rick said it would be handy to him also in his line of work for the MBI. Both men were taught how to apply the spell and everything was fine until Sirius found out nobody but Hermione or Harry could remove the zipper without the removal spell.

Now it was time to head to Florida so Neville could see Disneyworld, and the three kids could compare the two parks. It would also be during this time that the three kids would be receiving extra training, but that was a surprise from Sirius. The six ended up staying in the same house that had before so Harry and Hermione were right at home. The first night Sirius handed them a handmade book and told them to look it over, but to keep it hidden. He said he would explain everything later and that he needed to get Lucy to help him brew a potion first, and that would take several days to prepare.

Harry recognized the book as one from his family vault. It was the book that the Marauders had created when learning to be animagi. Harry's book had been his father's. The kids noticed that one of the first steps was to learn Occlumency so they could "clear their minds". The book went on to explain how to make the potion to help determine what, if any, their form could be. Just looking through the book told the three that it would take a while to accomplish the change, if they were even able to change, and that they needed someone to watch each step closely.

The next morning Sirius asked what they thought about his surprise. The kids were excited, but asked why they needed to keep the book hidden since Rick and Lucy already knew. Sirius explained that the material covered was considered too advanced for anyone below seventh year and even then it was taught very infrequently and in most magical places animagi were required to register their form and therefor it became public knowledge. It was explained that the trip wouldn't take place until Monday, three days away, so the next three days would be extra training in magic, martial arts, and self-defense; and the lessons started today.

After breakfast the first subject was three hours of potions. Next up was a short break then Charms for an hour and a half. Lunch was after Charms, followed by Transfiguration for two hours. A short break, then it was time for Rick to teach them more martial arts which included Judo and Karate. After supper Rick had a surprise for them, he had found someone to teach them how to use their staffs in a magical way. Neville felt he would be left out since he didn't have a staff, he was wrong. The staff instructor had brought an assistant along and while Harry and Hermione showed the instructor what they could do, Neville was busy choosing the materials for his own staff. Neville's staff would be Redwood with Ruby dust, Granite, an Eagle feather, and his own blood. Harry asked if it would be possible to add dragon blood, that was an explosive combination when tried before making the staff. Hermione suggested some type of plant be included, it turned out that the combination was very stable when the sap of a Venus Flytrap was added.

Neither the instructor or his assistant were staff makers so the construction would have to be handled by someone else, the kids immediately thought of Grimstead. When the instructor heard who they suggested he said that Grimstead would never consent to making a beginner's staff, he was wrong. Grimstead showed up the next afternoon and reviewed Neville's staff components and told Harry to make the staff and he would watch to make sure it was correct.

The kids didn't have class that afternoon as the adults wanted to watch Harry make a staff, they had never seen a wand made, much less a staff since very few wizards used a staff any more. Instead of using the piece of wood supplied by the instructor Grimstead suggested they harvest fresh heart wood for the staff, so off to California they went, all six of them – Lucy stayed to watch the potion. Rick and Sirius were surprised when Grimstead had Harry do the harvesting. Next they went to collect a fresh feather and a chunk of granite. In place of the Ruby dust Grimstead suggested Ruby slivers. Grimstead had Neville collect fresh sap from a Venus Flytrap since Neville was so good with plants.

When they returned Harry, under Grimstead's watchful eye, parted the wood and started inserting the components. The feather was split lengthwise and inserted first, next the sap, several spells later the Granite and Ruby slivers were inserted. The last thing added was six drops of Neville's blood, straight from his finger. Harry closed the staff and handed it to Grimstead to be finished, but Grimstead handed it back and told Harry to smooth it and then he would show Neville how to carve the correct runes on it, and show Harry and Hermione how and what to carve on their own staffs.

While Harry sanded and smoothed the staff, Grimstead worked with Neville to determine the correct runes and to show him how to carve them on scrape pieces of wood. Grimstead suggested they eat supper before starting the carvings as once started the carvings had to be completed without interruption. When the staff instructors arrived the three kids were in the middle of caving their runes and were not to be disturbed as There was no staff instruction that night as it took three hours for the carvings to be done.

Grimstead asked that he be left alone to seal and treat the staffs with his family secret sealant. He said it would take at least two hours to finish and then the staves would need to dry overnight. He was offered a room the night. The next morning the trio wanted to see their staves first thing but it was after breakfast before Grimstead said the staves were dry enough to work with. The seven of them went outside to a secluded area and Neville activated his staff under Grimstead's instructions. Sirius made the mistake of trying to pick up Harry's staff to look at it, wrong move he was stunned. Once he was awake Sirius was told that to touch someone's staff without permission was dangerous. Each of the kids tested their staff and it was plain to see that with the addition of the runes the staffs were much more powerful. Neville was taught how to shrink and expand his staff so it would always be available to him. Grimstead suggested that Neville, and Hermione, both get a second holder for their staffs. Harry already wore two, one for each wand he carried.

That night Harry told Neville that the staff was his birthday present, and it was handmade at that. Neville was surprised as he had forgotten about his birthday, as had Harry about his own. It was after supper when Hermione gave both boys their present from her, books of course. When the staff instructor arrived, with his assistant, he was treated to cake and ice cream before the instruction began. The instructor was surprised to see Grimstead still there and had to ask if Neville's staff was safe to use. Of course it was Grimstead informed them. Even though Neville was a class behind Harry and Hermione he managed to keep up, and even surprised the instructors with how well he used his staff. The lead instructor noticed the runes on Harry and Hermione's staffs and asked when they had been applied and by who. They were told that Grimstead had taken care of that for them (they had been cautioned not to reveal Harry's skills). The instructor said he would return each night for the next week to finish the instruction and after that they needed to practice what they had been taught.

Monday through Friday was spent at Disneyworld during the day and Neville had a grand time on both sides of the park. The biggest problem the group had was getting Sirius off the roller coasters. Neville, Harry, and Hermione all competed in dueling matches and improved their skills, they each won several matches. Hermione managed to win against a few adults, and Harry was undefeated, while Neville was finally defeated in his third adult match. There were several surprised adults that week, being defeated by a youngster wasn't what they expected. Each night the staff instructor returned and by the end of the week he said they had learned as much as he could teach them, they just needed to keep practicing to improve their skills.

**~O~O~O~**

Back in London

It was August 1st, Ginny Weasley was going to Diagon Alley to get her school supplies, and her wand! All of the Weasley children were getting their supplies for the upcoming year at Hogwarts. The twins managed to obtain several joke items without their mother noticing. This was would be Percy's second year as prefect and he could hardly wait. Ron was trying to figure out how to get the "love potion" in Hermione and was happily daydreaming about the results.

Dumbledore on the other hand was trying to understand why the wards at Privet Drive were still strong, he had determined that Harry wasn't there, yet again. His spy in the neighborhood had said she hadn't seen Harry there all summer and hadn't been asked to watch him in some time. Dumbledore knew that Harry was staying with Sirius but Sirius had been out of sight for the complete summer.

On August 1st Lucius Malfoy returned from his sentence in Azkaban, the wizard prison, having served his term for attacking Harry Potter and his wand was returned to him, thank goodness it wasn't the one used to cast dark curses. Lucius was met up by his wife and son and the three returned to Malfoy Manor so he could clean up and have a decent meal. He would make sure that Potter paid for him going to Azkaban.

Susan Bones had spent the summer having fun, but also studying ahead for the coming school year. She had seen some of the events the past year at school and was not going to get behind. A muggle born had out done her in school, now Susan was not a pure blood purist but it still got to her. She had heard the rumors that three first years, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom, had faced down the DADA teacher and won. Even three on one the teacher should have been able to defeat three first years.

Luna Lovegood, daughter of Xenophilius Lovegood the editor of a monthly newspaper, spent the summer before her first year at Hogwarts with her father looking for strange magical animals. Luna was sad because her mother had died just two years ago in an accident while trying to create a new spell, but Luna knew she would see her mother again in the afterlife. Luna and her father had run into the Weasley family while getting her school supplies, she and Ginny had been friends years ago but were estranged now even though they lived only a few miles a part.

**~O~O~O~**

The 15th of August when Harry, Hermione, Neville, and the adults returned to England. The threesome agreed to meet in Diagon Alley on the 20th to get any school supplies they needed. Neville went home to spend some time with his Grandmother and to catch her up on his adventures over the summer. Hermione went home to see her parents and to catch them up on her summer. Harry and the adults went to Potter Manor, and from there Harry would go and check on his properties and add to the charge of all the ward stones, after fixing the wards at his Aunt's house.

Harry found that it was easier to charge the ward stones using his staff as it didn't take as much out of him, even with almost overcharging the first one. The wards at Petunia's were easy to change since Grimstead had shown him how to do that. All it took was a few drops of his Aunt's blood and several spells, plus the addition of a ward stone. The wards at Privet Drive were now stronger than ever, much stronger than Dumbledore's wards ever were and they were keyed to Petunia instead of Harry.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, this isn't in the books so I need some help here. I ask that you include suggestions for the animal forms for Hermione and Neville. Take into account their elementals and their strengths. Also, to answer one of the questions asked in the reviews, who should Neville be paired with Susan, Ginny, or Luna (who appears this year)? Well the wards at #4 are now changed, this should really confuse Dumbledore since his wards are now gone.**

**Please be kind and leave a review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hogwarts Year 2**

**Diagon Alley**

It seemed odd to be going to Diagon Alley this late in the year but Harry, Hermione, and Neville had just returned from their summer vacation and they needed to get their school supplies. There wasn't many items on the school lists that they didn't already have, a few potion ingredients to replace what had been used or was out of date, and the new DADA books.

The first stop once inside the Alley was to go to Gringotts Wizarding Bank to pick up some money for their purchases. While there Neville was asked to meet with one of the managers of the bank. Once inside Neville was congratulated for becoming the new head of House Longbottom and needed to sign a few documents, after which he rejoined his friends.

Most of the out dated potion ingredients were available from one of Harry's farms or properties, those not available were found at the potion shop in the alley. As to the new books, these were the complete works of Gilderoy Lockhart's, "Who is Gilderoy Lockhart?" which was actually the question Harry and Neville had, Hermione of course had already read most of his books. Hermione tried to explain that Lockhart was a famous wizard who had fought many dark creatures and written about those fights.

"Lockhart is a fake and a fraud", was Sirius' reply to Harry's question, much to Hermione's displeasure.

When the group got close to the book store they saw that there was a small crowd as there was some type of book signing happening. It turned out Gilderoy Lockhart was offering to autograph his books, once you bought them, for a small fee of 2 Sickles. Once they were inside and had started to look for their books Harry was recognized by Lockhart.

"Harry Potter! People look who has decided to buy my books, of course I won't charge Harry Potter for my autograph. In fact he will receive the full set of my books free of charge, including the newest one which comes out in a few weeks "Magical Me". I would like to announce that I am to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor this year at Hogwarts. The students are so lucky to have me as their professor.", Lockhart expounded.

Lockhart made to grab for Harry's arm and pull him to the front of the room for a picture for the Daily Prophet only to have his hand caught by Sirius before he could grasp Harry's arm. Sirius warned Lockhart that it was not wise to grab at people suddenly as some reacted first and asked questions later – if there was anything left to question.

As Harry and crew were leaving the store Malfoy Sr. walked up and tried to berate Harry for his being sent to prison. This ended badly as Lucius found several wands pointed at him at once, and Sirius' wand was pressing painfully into Malfoy's throat. Lucius was given the same warning as had been given Lockhart before being told to leave or go back to prison.

After a stop for ice cream, the group made their way to the Leaky Cauldron and from there to their individual destinations. Harry and Sirius returned to Potter Manor, Hermione and her mother returned home, and Neville went to his home with his grandmother. When Harry and Sirius arrived they were notified that a strange elf had been captured sneaking around Harry's room and was being held.

Harry and Sirius were taken to the holding area and questioned the elf as to why he was sneaking around the manor.

"Mr. Harry Potter sir, I is Dobby the house-elf. I comes to warns Harry Potter sir that he must not return to Hogwarts School of Magic. Harry Potter is in grave danger and is not safe at Hogwarts", was the reply from the elf who was shaking.

Harry asked how it was that the elf didn't just pop away and Gustus explained that with enough elves to help they were able to contain the elf and prevent his leaving. Harry thought this might be a good thing to add to the wards around his aunt's house.

"Dobby tried the house where Harry Potter sir was thought to live but he wasn't there and I is hearing that Harry Potter sir was staying somewhere else so I's come here to warn Mr. Harry Potter sir. Dobby will have to punish himself for this but it must be done", Dobby continued.

Harry asked what family Dobby belonged to, but Sirius said the elf couldn't answer as he was bound to that family and would die rather than reveal that information, Gustus nodded in agreement as did Dobby. After a few minutes of thought Harry said that Dobby could be released but he was to refrain from doing anything to harm himself. Harry explained that he had to return to Hogwarts as all of his friends were there and he needed to complete his education. But, he would be sure to keep a close eye out for trouble and he thanked Dobby for the warning.

After Dobby had left Harry and Sirius discussed the warning brought to them. Harry asked Gustus if it was possible to add elves to wards so that like the usual wards if the elf intended harm it would not be allowed to enter or would be held if it tried to harm the people or property. Gustus explained that it took several elves to hold another elf by binding it's magic temporarily. Harry said he would have to think on that and see if he could come up with a way to accomplish that ward.

~o~o~o~

At the Burrow, the Weasley home, Ginny Weasley had found a strange book amongst her "new" books. It appeared to be a diary, maybe one of her brothers had gotten it for her. Ron Weasley was outside "degnomeing" the garden and daydreaming about what he would have Hermione to do once she was under the effects of the "love" potion, he was really enjoying this daydream as he had a very good imagination for his age and the twins were hiding out in their room trying to come up with more jokes and pranks to use at school this year.

At Longbottom Manor Neville was showing his grandmother some of the things he had learned while at Peaks. Augusta Longbottom was especially interested in the staff that Neville had acquired and since so few wizards used them any more, it was a lost ability. Augusta knew from her history that wands were the first magical item created to help wizards and witches to focus their power, but that the staff was created to handle more power than a wand several years later.

Neville was showing his "Gran" what his Earth Elemental could do and that with the staff it was easier to call Rocky and to preform magic. Neville made a discovery, he had almost complete control of plants – they would do what he asked whether it be to grow rapidly, shrink back, or form a barrier. But he still didn't know how to get a tree or bush to give up it's heartwood for use as a wand or staff, like he had seen Harry do. It wasn't unusual to find Neville out on the Manor grounds somewhere working with his staff and elemental, and as such Neville was getting stronger and had more confidence in himself. One thing Neville had learned, but kept from his "Gran" and everyone else, was that he could join with his elemental and travel through the earth rapidly, but not through water.

Hermione could be found in the potions lab in back of her house most days working on safe potions, once a week Lucy would come over and they would work on some of the more dangerous ones with her. Hermione also spent time working with her staff, after all the Ministry couldn't detect that magic, and with Windy, her elemental. Like Neville, Hermione was getting stronger in her magic and was pleased with that.

All three kids spent at least an hour each night meditating and trying to find their center. Harry was the first to achieve this state of meditation, he found himself flying through the air but things looked different to him. The colors were different and he seemed to be able to see things on the ground clearer than when he flew on his broom, and he always "awoke" with a hunger for fruit. Hermione wasn't far behind Harry in her meditation, but she found herself outside flying over the ground at night. Neville still had a ways to go, he could relax and had started to organize his mind but still had not found his center completely.

Elsewhere in England, Susan Bones was practicing her spell and wand work, both to review and get ready for the coming year at school. Susan had noticed that her aunt Amelia was spending a lot of time with Sirius Black over the summer. Susan had spent the summer thinking about one Neville Longbottom and hoping that they could be close friends this year even if they were in different houses.

~o~o~o~

School would start at the end of the week and Harry wanted to get together with his friends one last time before school so he asked if he and Sirius could invite the families over for a cook out. Sirius thought that was an excellent idea as long as he could invite a friend also. So, it was the Saturday a week before school started that the cook out was held. Remus, Neville and Hermione had no problem getting to the Potter Manor as they had full permission to use the floo network. The problem came in that Sirius' guest didn't know where the manor was and didn't have floo permission. Harry solved that problem by asking Reggie to go with Sirius and to help transport the guests back, Sirius had said his guest had a young ward.

It was early evening and everything was setup outside for the gathering. The house elves had several tables setting around to hold the food and guests. Harry had a surprise for his guests, he had taken a liking to American BBQ and had instructed a few of the elves in this so there were a couple of BBQ grills setup and being tended by elves. Harry had told the elves responsible that the only magic allowed was to get the fire started, everything else had to be done by hand.

The smell of BBQ was the first thing everyone noticed when entering the garden at Potter Manor and it was an unusual smell to most of them, except for Hermione and Neville. As soon as Neville and his grandmother arrived he saw that a few of the flower arrangements weren't doing well and corrected the problem without even thinking, a surprise for "Gran".

The Grangers, Remus, Rick, Lucy, and Augusta were all sitting around talking while Harry, Hermione, and Neville were on their brooms when Sirius and the Bones arrived. The adults knew each other and Susan was introduced to those who didn't know her. The kids landed and were introduced to Amelia and then invited Susan to join them. Susan tried to decline saying she wasn't that good on a broom until Hermione said she would be glad to help.

The first thing Hermione did was to suggest that Susan get out of her robes, but Susan said she didn't have much on under them. "No problem" was Hermione's reply as she lead Susan into the house and to the room Hermione usually occupied to get Susan dressed for flying. It was a surprise to see Susan return in a pair of jeans with a tee-shirt on a few minutes later, especially to Amelia. In fact the only females not in jeans were Augusta and Amelia, and with the help of Lucy, Amelia soon changed into jeans too.

Susan protested saying she didn't have a broom but Harry said that there were plenty to go around and Susan just needed to choose one. With Hermione's help Susan was soon flying with the others, not quite as well but flying. When Harry and Hermione got into a game of catch, on brooms, Neville offered to keep Susan company and to help her get used to the broom more. It wasn't long before everyone was summoned to partake of the food, especially the BBQ.

Harry had to explain what BBQ was to most of the people, except for Rick, Lucy, and even Augusta Longbottom was soon commenting on how good it was. It was during supper that the fact that Harry, Hermione, and Neville had spent the summer in America came out. Now the Bones ladies were very interested in what the trio had learned so a demonstration was called for.

Amelia was already aware that Harry was a very powerful wizard, and Susan suspected that all three kids were talented well beyond her. Just as the demonstration was about to start one of the elves came up to Harry and said that there was a problem at his aunt's house and she had asked for help. Harry, Hermione, Lucy, and Rick were on their way to Privet drive very quickly, followed closely by the rest.

The problem turned out to be a fire, the houses on both sides of Petunia's were on fire and it was spreading. Petunia was doing all she could with her limited magic but it was beyond her. Harry called Firebeard, who took control of the two house fires, and ended the problem. Meanwhile, Hermione and Lucy were working to help the injured from the neighbors by rendering first-aid. Amelia and Sirius searched for the cause of the fires, two fires at once was strange.

By the time the normal emergency response arrived there everything was in hand, just a few injured people and two damaged houses. When the fire department got there they found Petunia using her water hose to spray the house closest to hers. What they didn't see was Harry controlling the fire and keeping it from doing any harm. As soon as all the excitement was over and all the emergency equipment and personal were gone, Harry invited Petunia and her family to join him for supper. Vernon was rude, as usual, but Dudley and Petunia accepted the invitation.

Amelia was concerned that non-magical people were brought to the manor until Sirius explained that they were aware of magic since they were Harry's relatives and that they had charms to prevent them from saying anything. Dudley did as he usually did and started making a pig of himself with the food. Petunia asked why the fires had not harmed her house and Harry explained that the wards he had put up prevented it. This admission surprised Amelia in that a 12 year old boy shouldn't be able to do that type of magic. After a few minutes of discussion everyone was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that what happened hadn't been by accident since Sirius and Amelia had found traces of magic that started the fires.

The three kids once again started their demonstration and most of the adults present were surprised at what the three could do. Petunia wanted to be able to do some of it but her limited core prevented that. Dudley was too busy being a pig to notice much. Susan noticed that Neville was even more talented than she had thought, and she was very impressed.

As the night was ending Amelia cornered Harry and asked just what wards he had put up at his aunt's house. Harry explained that in addition to the standard wards most wizard families used he had added wards to prevent anyone with bad intentions from entering the house or property. The house was safe from burglary since that was a bad intention, even if someone, magical or mundane, got inside as soon as they tried to do something bad or harmful they were taken care of by the wards. Harry related what had happened when they had tested the wards against the American LEOs and Amelia was surprised yet again. Harry went on to explain that the goblins were of course better at wards than he was, he only added to the wards his own special touch around his properties. Harry didn't feel it necessary to mention that he had four ward stones, small ones, around his aunt's house.

* * *

**A/N: Well it is time for school to start up for our heroes so the next chapter will start with the train ride and feast. Just as a thought, the third book will be hard to write since Sirius is already free and clear; but I'll think of something.**

**Please be kind and comment**


	4. Chapter 4

Hogwarts Year 2

**Trains and Feast**

Today was the day, today Harry and his friends caught the Hogwarts Express and returned to school. Harry was excited and let down at the same time. He was ready to return to school but really would have preferred it be Peaks instead of Hogwarts. He was to meet Hermione and Neville at the station an hour before departure so they could get a good compartment to themselves. Neville and Susan had hit it off and she would be joining the trio on board the train.

Harry and Sirius arrived at the station early Sirius went first but when Harry tried to enter platform 9¾ the barrier wouldn't allow him pass. Harry checked to make sure nobody was around and then had Reggie take him to the platform where he told Sirius what had happened. Reggie told them both that the barrier was blocked by elf magic, but he couldn't tell who had blocked it. Harry realized that his trunk was on the other side of the barrier and had Reggie fetched the trunk. It appeared that none of the rest of the students had the same problem as more arrived on the platform.

Harry and Sirius loaded Harry's trunk on-board and waited for the others to arrive. Hermione was first, followed shortly by Neville (who arrived via the floo since Augusta didn't like all the crowds outside). Susan showed up shortly after accompanied by her Aunt Amelia. After loading their trunks the foursome found an empty compartment and settled in. Five minutes before the train was to leave the four kids noticed a disturbance outside; the Weasley family had arrived, late as usual. Harry noted that Ron was missing, not that this bothered him much.

The twins and their younger sister, Ginny, stopped by after boarding to say hello and to introduce Ginny, who asked if she could join them. After the twins left to see their friends Ginny asked Hermione if she could tell her where to find the girls restroom. The three girls left together, Susan joining them, and Harry commented that he didn't understand why it took three girls to go to the restroom. Neville just shook his head as if to say he didn't understand either.

After Ginny exited the restroom and Susan was inside Ginny told Hermione that she needed to tell Harry something but was afraid. Hermione asked her what so Ginny told her about the "love" potion. Hermione agreed that Ginny needed to tell Harry as soon as possible. On the way back to their compartment the girls were stopped by Draco and his two guards.

When Draco made another rude remark he was surprised by the reaction from the girls, Hermione had her wand out and so did Ginny. Draco started to make another remark when he was stopped due to large bats made of mucus coming from his nose and attacking him. The two boys with him found themselves itching all over and unable to control their feet as they danced down the passageway. When the three girls got back to the compartment Hermione asked Harry to secure the door "tightly" so they wouldn't be disturbed.

Once the door was secured Hermione had Ginny to tell Harry, and everyone else, about the "love" potions. When Ginny finished telling what she knew Hermione commented that it sounded illegal, Neville agreed and said to do something like that to the Lord of a house was unthinkable and could cause a blood feud. Then Susan asked what that curse was Ginny used on Draco, so the three had to explain the incident in the passageway. All five kids had a good laugh about it and Neville and Harry both said, again, that they didn't want Hermione upset with them any time soon.

Hermione pulled out one of her books and said she needed to look something up before they got to school and would explain later to the rest. Harry and Neville were used to this from Hermione, when she got something on her mind she had to find the answer. Harry removed the spells from the compartment door and the rest of them started talking, mostly explaining to Ginny what to expect at school.

It was during their conversation that the subject of Ron Weasley came up again, namely "where is he?". Ginny said she didn't know, as the youngest she came through the barrier second, behind Percy, and was followed by her twin brothers.

**~o~o~o~**

Ron Weasley watched as his brother Percy went through the barrier, followed by Ginny and then the twins then Molly (his Mom). But when he tried to enter the barrier stopped him, hard like a brick wall. He had to get to Hogwarts, he had both potions that needed to be given to Harry and Hermione so they would do as the headmaster wanted them to do. At that time he heard the clock strike 11, the Hogwarts Express left precisely at 11am – not a second earlier or a second later. Ron's first thought was wait for his parents, but nobody came out of the barrier. Ron decided to take the family car, it could fly, thanks to his Dad's tinkering, and it had an invisibility charm that could be activated. Ron never thought about the fact he didn't know how to drive a car. He loaded his trunk into the car and started it, he forgot to engage the invisibility charm so several people saw the flying car before this occurred to him. Now all he had to do was find the train and follow it to Hogwarts.

Ron soon found the train tracks but saw no sign of the train. _"Well just follow the tracks and find the train"_ he thought, although thinking wasn't his strong suit. He was flying about 3 feet off the tracks so he could see them and follow them when he heard the train, behind him! Ron jerked the car off the tracks just in time to avoid being hit by the speeding engine. Now he had lost the train again by the time he regained control of the car. He once again started to follow the tracks until he saw Hogwarts several hours later. Now to land and catch up with the rest of the students. Landing was a good idea since he was getting low on fuel, but he misjudged his landing and ended up landing in the tree. Not just any tree, this was the Whomping Willow and it lived up to its name as it started to beat up the car, and it's occupant.

A branch came through the windshield then another came through the back glass. Soon the car started to slip and fall towards the ground, receiving more abuse from the tree. At the last second the car gave a mighty shake and took flight of it's own accord and landed on the ground, the doors flew open and Ron, along with his trunk, were thrown out. Ron woke up to find his wand slightly broken and Professor Snape standing over him. This was not a good combination to wake up to in Ron's mind, and he was correct. Snape escorted him in to the castle by grabbing Ron's ear and pulling. "That will be 20 points from Gryffindor, Mr. Weasley", was the only comment Snape made.

**~o~o~o~**

All the returning students watched as the sorting took place for the new students. They watched as a strange little girl, Luna Lovegood, was sorted into Ravenclaw. The twins told Harry, Hermione, and Neville that she lived just a few mile from them and the whole family was strange. One of the last students sorted was Ginny Weasley, into Gryffindor, which caused a great round of applause from that table. With still no sign of Ron,Harry noticed that Snape was missing as well. After the before dinner announcements were made the food appeared, and the students started enjoying their meal. After the meal Dumbledore introduced Gilderoy Lockhart as the new DADA professor, this was followed by much applause and a few disturbing remarks from the Slytherin table.

The students were dismissed so the new students could be lead to their dorms by the prefects, and the returning students could get their belongings unpacked in preparation for classes the next morning. Several of the Gryffindor students noticed the sudden decline of points for their house, they were now in the negative and classes hadn't even started yet! Ron Weasley was escorted to the dorm by Professor McGonagall shortly after everyone had started to sort out their belongings, he didn't look pleasant.

Harry, Hermione, and Neville met in the Gryffindor Heir quarters shortly after lights out. Once they were there Hermione told Harry she had found what she was looking for, a spell to detect potions. She strongly suggested that all three of them use this anytime Ron was around their food or drink. Harry and Neville spent a little while learning the spell, while Hermione tested them by adding a harmless potion to their drinks. The three also agreed that until she proved herself Ginny was suspect also. The three returned to their beds around 2am so they could get some sleep before classes and breakfast.

The next morning McGonagall handed out their class schedule, this time Harry and Hermione had Ancient Runes and Arithmancy on their schedules. When the trio got to Transfiguration McGonagall asked if there was anything new they needed to tell her, Neville said he had the same advantage as Harry and Hermione did last term and showed her his shrunken staff. By the time the rest of the class arrived the extra study sessions for the trio were already set in place. Once again McGonagall asked that Harry and Hermione help those who needed it in class, Neville said he would help also and this surprised the professor until he demonstrated his new abilities.

In charms Flitwick also setup extra study sessions for the trio and was surprised when Neville started helping the students along with Harry and Hermione. It was in Runes that Harry and Hermione surprised the professor the most when they asked questions that were more advanced than the class was dealing with. Gryffindor gained back the lost points quickly thanks to Harry and Hermione.

It was at lunch that the first potion was detected by Hermione in her drink. Hermione decided to see what would happen if Ron drank the potion, so she switched them. It wasn't until after lunch that Hermione had a chance to tell Harry about the switch and to ask him to let her know if it affected Ron in any way. It did, Ron couldn't keep from talking about himself for the rest of the day, which caused him to cost Gryffindor more points and make him very disliked by his house.

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**A/N: Hey two chapters in one day, I hope. Our trio is back to school now the fun begins. Lockhart is in for a few surprises when he has them for class.**

**Please be kind and comment**


	5. Chapter 5

Hogwarts Year 2

**Fun with Lockhart**

It was time for the first DADA class, when the threesome entered the classroom they were surprised to find it had changed since last year. All the preserved specimens had been moved to the rear of the classroom and the front was now covered with pictures of Gilderoy Lockhart. The first thing Lockhart did was to pass out a test about him based on his books for the students to answer. Harry thought that the questions were stupid, things like Lockhart's favorite color or his "life's ambition". After the papers had been collected, Lockhart introduced the class to a cage full of "freshly caught" Cornish Pixies.

The blue flying creatures were known for their mischievousness and weren't really considered dark, just in general, a nuisance. Things were going fine until they were released and the class was told to capture them and return them to their cage. After that there were pixies everywhere, some even started to pick on the students, a few pixies were worrying Lockhart and trying to take his wand away. The class was in chaos, some students ran from the class screaming; while Harry, Hermione, and Neville just immobilized the creatures and their inept teacher returning most of the pixies to their cage even though some did escape the classroom to reek havoc on the general school populace.

After most of the devilish creatures were rounded up and Lockhart had been freed, Hermione asked a question. "Professor, wouldn't it have been easier if you had told us the correct spell to handle the pixies? Maybe even demonstrated the correct way to deal with them.".

Lockhart didn't even try to answer that question or respond to the suggestion, as he was too busy trying to get his wand down from the lights above. As the threesome left the class Hermione told Neville that pixies were covered in first year at Peaks. Harry was too busy laughing to comment at the time. It was only later that Harry told Hermione and Neville that Hogwarts herself had commented that the pixies caused almost as much chaos as Peeves, now all three were laughing.

It was later that day that Harry, Hermione, and Neville got the chance to talk about the results of Ron drinking that "love" potion a day earlier. Not only had Ron lost points for Gryffindor, but the twins didn't let him live it down that he had been trying to kiss himself all day. Ron had ended up getting detention, from their head of house McGonagall, for his actions. It was only when Ron was sent to the infirmary that the cause of the trouble was determined and a very foul tasting potion administered.

Harry managed to get a sample of the potion Ron had tried to use on Hermione, it was the same as the one Ginny was supposed to use on Harry. Hermione took a few days to figure out that the potion could be used on anyone, you just added a hair to the potion and whoever drank the potion became devoted to you for a short time but with repeated doses the effect could become permanent.

The defense classes didn't improve any over the next few classes, in fact they got a little more sillier. Lockhart kept bringing simple creatures to class for them to study, but didn't really teach them anything about the creatures. Harry had decided that if Lockhart wasn't going to teach anything, then Harry would prank him as much as he could. Lockhart would take the cover off a cage only to find that the cage contained a stuffed toy looking like the creature that was supposed to be there. Hermione got upset until Harry explained that he was using a switching charm and not harming the creatures in any way. He had transfigured pieces of stone or wood into stuffed toys for the simple creatures and when Lockhart announced which one they were studying that day Harry switched it out, he sent the real creature to Lockhart's quarters.

One of the funniest things to happen was when Ron tried to transfigure something and instead ended up cursing himself to produce slugs from his own mouth, McGonagall wasn't happy as Ron deposited several slugs on to her shoes and robes. Ron was just glad that the spell only lasted a few hours, unlike his detention which lasted two days.

One afternoon, everyone was surprised to find the Slytherin Quidditch team entering the pitch at the same time as the Gryffindor team. Prof. Snape had given his team the use of the pitch ,at the same time as the Gryffindors, so they could train their new seeker, Draco Malfoy. Draco revealed that his father had "donated" new brooms to the team so they would let him play. Hermione made the comment that at least the Gryffindor players got there because they could play instead of buying their way on to a team. This caused Draco to make a rude comment; this comment resulted in Hermione putting her fist in contact with Draco's nose, which broke.

It was a week before the first Quidditch match when Harry heard something while walking to the great hall for supper, "Free again, must feed, must kill". Harry tried to trace the source of the "voice" but it sounded as if it was in the walls and moving away from him. It was after supper and Harry, Hermione, and Neville were on their way to the library when Harry heard the same "voice" again. He asked if either of the others heard it, but they said they didn't. As they rounded a corner they found water on the floor, and about half way down the hall they found Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, hanging from one of the sconces on the wall and she looked stiff as a board.

On the wall behind the cat was a message and it appeared to be written in blood:

**THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.  
ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.**

It was then they heard many footsteps coming, it seemed that everyone had finished supper and they were either going to their dorms or somewhere else. Soon there was a crowd standing staring at the cat and the message. Filch came up and started to complain about the mess, but saw his cat and went crazy blaming Harry, Hermione, and Neville after hearing they had been found there by the other students. It took Dumbledore showing up to quiet everyone down, especially Filch. It was soon determined that Mrs. Norris wasn't dead but petrified. Lockhart tried to say if he had been present he could have prevented the petrification, nobody seemed to believe him. Snape even spoke up for the trio saying they just seemed to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. All of the students were sent to their dorms

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**A/N: Well here it is, sorry it took so long.**

**Please be kind and comment**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hogwarts Year 2**

**Plans and Quidditch**

Once everyone was in bed, Harry, Hermione, and Neville met in the Gryffindor suite to discuss the events of the evening. Harry explained what he had heard and that he had heard it before but still couldn't figure out where the voice came from. The question on all three minds was "Who is the Heir of Slytherin?". Neville put forth the opinion that it was Malfoy, but had no proof except that Malfoy really hated muggle-born students. Hermione finally said they needed to get into the Slytherin common room and question Draco, and she had just the plan – polyjuice potion.

Both Harry and Neville had heard of this potion, it allowed you to take on the exact body of someone for a period of time, to impersonate them as it were. The drawback was that it took a long time to brew and required you to have a piece of that person, a hair or something similar. Hermione reminded them that it had to be a part of a human as using animal parts was dangerous and had strange side-effects.

The threesome decided that this was a good plan to try so Hermione was elected to start brewing the potion, once she did the research and found the instructions and list of ingredients. Finding this wouldn't be hard since she had access to the Potter and Gryffindor libraries,the trio figured, if it wasn't there it wasn't to be found anywhere.

After a little searching Hermione found the potion instructions and after reading it over she suggested that it might just be easier if they completed their animagus training and could just turn into something unnoticeable. The potion was very detailed and complicated.

The mention of animagus started the threesome to talking about their efforts to center themselves so that hopefully during Christmas break they could take the reveal potion and find out what their forms, if any, might be. Harry said he was confused as sometimes he seemed to be flying and sometimes he seemed to be crawling through the grass.

Hermione said so far she seemed to be flying, but it was always at night. Neville said he wasn't getting very far, he could center better but had not seen anything yet.

The next day in class Hermione asked about the Chamber of Secrets in several classes, but not one of her instructors had any information that they seemed willing to share. The closest she came to getting information was in History from Professor Binns who said people had been looking for that place for many years and then started lecturing on another Goblin War battle.

The most information was gained from Prof. McGonagall later in the week. After some persistent pestering from Hermione Prof. McGonagall told the class that the Chamber of Secrets was rumored to have been created by Salazar Slytherin as a place to hide from the rest of the founders. But despite many renovations and searches Slytherin's hidden sanctuary never been found, or any evidence that it existed. Something told Hermione that the professor wasn't being completely truthful on the subject.

It was time for Gryffindor's Quidditch match and it pitted Gryffindor against Slytherin. The game started out with Gryffindor scoring the first goal. The Weasley twins were having fun using the Bludgers to harass the Slytherin players until one of the Bludgers took off after Harry and no matter how many times the twins deflected it it always came back,as if it had a mind of it's own, to try and attack Harry.

Somehow Slytherin had taken the lead, probably due to the newer brooms since from what Harry had seen the Slytherin team wasn't playing all that well. Harry became distracted and just missed being hit by the Bludger, and it was chasing him again. Harry flew towards the Slytherin goal and pulled up at the last second causing the Bludger to hit the Slytherin Keeper allowing Gryffindor to score. But, the Bludger changed course and came after Harry again, without being hit by anyone.

"_Someone has tampered with that Bludger",_ was Harry's thought as he once again tried to avoid being hit. Harry wasn't the only one thinking something wasn't right with the Bludger, both Weasley twins had seen the Bludger chase Harry in a manner not usually seen. The twins thought that maybe one of the Slytherins was "playing" with the Bludger and the most likely suspect was Malfoy. Malfoy,as seeker, had the most free time to work with; so they targeted him with the other Bludger, Harry didn't know this.

Suddenly Harry had two Bludgers to contend with, one chasing him and one that just missed him only to hit Malfoy and knock him to the ground from 100 feet in the air. The troublesome Bludger didn't act any different even after Malfoy was knocked out, so much for that idea. Just as Harry thought he was going to have to use magic to keep the Bludger from killing him, the Bludger was frozen in mid-air. Harry saw a very upset Hermione talking to Madame Hooch and pointing at Harry and the frozen Bludger. Harry had been so busy avoiding the Bludger he had not heard the time out called.

Madame Hooch examined the Bludger and found strange magic at work on it, as a result she called an end to the game due to outside interference and tampering. Gryffindor won on points, 60 to 50. One of the Slytherin Beaters took exception and sent the remaining Bludger into Harry with force knocking Harry from his broom and to the ground below. Now there were three problems, Malfoy was still out, Harry was down and holding his arm, and there was a Bludger stuck in mid-air that nobody knew how to retrieve. Even Dumbledore couldn't get the Bludger to behave or come down.

Madame Pomfrey was busy attending to Draco Malfoy and had not noticed Harry's injured arm yet. The whole Gryffindor team was around Harry when Prof. Lockhart pushed his way through. "Ah yes, a simple broken arm. I can have that fixed in no time", Gilderoy said.

Harry said he would rather have the med-nurse look at it but Lockhart just told everyone to stand back as he started to wave his wand about and mumble a spell. Harry felt a strange sensation from his shoulder down then nothing. When Harry tried to move his arm it didn't move right, it just flopped around. The comment by Lockhart that this happened some times and that the nurse should be able to fix it up without much problem as he walked away didn't make Harry feel any better.

Harry saw Malfoy being floated off the pitch and that Snape was talking to one of the Slytherin players who didn't look happy. Harry was escorted to the hospital wing by the whole Gryffindor team. Once Madame Pomfrey finished with Draco she took a look at Harry. "A broken bone I can mend in a second, but regrowing bones will take a while longer. Who tried to fix your arm Mr. Potter? I would like to have a few words with that idiot, since he, or she, vanished all the bones in your arm", Madame Pomfrey inquired.

When the team told her that it was Lockhart she said she would be having words with him and McGonagall about his actions and that she was glad he hadn't tried to help Mr. Malfoy. That kind of help would have killed the boy since he had a skull fracture and most people didn't respond well to having their skulls vanished. Pomfrey went into her office and returned with a large bottle, then told Harry that he had to take the whole bottle over the next day and that it would be unpleasant.

The first sip of the potion was all it took for Harry to know that Skele-Gro was a very foul tasting potion, and the discomfort of bones being regrown wasn't anything to laugh about. Hermione tried to lighten the mood by saying anyone could make a mistake and that Harry's arm didn't hurt any more, did it? Harry agreed that his arm didn't hurt, but also that it didn't do anything else either. It was only after Harry had changed into pajamas that he asked what had happened to the rouge Bludger. Hermione told him Windy had taken care of that for her, and still had the Bludger suspended in the air when they left the pitch. "After all, we don't need a wand to ask our friends for help do we?", was Hermione's comment before she left the ward to go eat.

It was after supper when Harry learned that Lockhart had had an accident in that he had an allergic reaction to the hot peppers he added to his meal instead of salt. This was complemented by his drinking Fire Whiskey to cool his mouth. It seemed that the combination caused him to fall off the platform and break his wand arm, and his wand. Hermione's comment that Harry wasn't the only one who could do a switching spell caused Harry pain in that he laughed so hard he bumped his good arm on the iron bedstead. It seemed that the twins had been experimenting with peppers from Mexico, something call Bhut Jolokia, and that was where the pepper came from. When Madame Pomfrey examined Lockhart's arm she said it would have to be fixed the muggle way and applied a cast to be worn for six weeks. Unfortunately, Pomfrey had little experience with casts and did the whole arm to stabilize his lower arm and only left the tips of his fingers and thumb exposed.

It was later that night when Harry was awaken, by Dobby the elf. Dobby asked if Harry was ready to go home after the Bludger attacked him. Because of the inquiry Harry concluded that Dobby had something to do with the Bludger trying to kill him and said so. Dobby told him that he would never try to kill Harry Potter, just try to scare him into going home where it was safe. The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Madame Pomfrey, Prof. McGonagall and Dumbledore escorting another student to the hospital wing. Harry overheard them talking and it appeared that the student had been found petrified in the hallways. The student was Collin Creevy, a first year who was always taking pictures – mostly of Harry. When the professors tried to see if maybe a picture had been obtained the camera just melted.

It was after lunch the next day that Harry was finally released to return to classes, just in time to go to Herbology out in the greenhouse. Thanks to Lucy and Neville Harry's grades in Herbology were very good, not as good as Neville's but that was understandable. Before class started everyone was still talking about the Bludger that just stopped in mid-air the day before, Hermione barely hid her smile.

It was later that night when the threesome met, in the quarters of Godric Gryffindor, that all three were able to put everything together. Dobby had influenced the Bludger to scare Harry into going home, Windy had taken care of the Bludger to protect Harry, and the twins had helped Hermione with the pranks on Lockhart to pay him back for Harry's arm. But the biggest surprise was the next morning when Sirius and Augusta showed up at Hogwarts, and they were not happy.

Augusta Longbottom was on the board of governors for Hogwarts and Sirius was the Chief Warlock for the Wizengamot. Both were there to find out how someone like Lockhart was hired to teach the students, and harming them. It seemed that several students had written home about Lockhart's classes and some of those parents were on the board also. No one was exactly sure how Sirius had found out about Harry's arm, but from the anger he was radiating it was evident that he knew. Hagrid added to the mess when he announced that all the roosters at Hogwarts had been found dead that morning. This was not a good start for Albus "too many names" Dumbledore's morning.

The absolute topper of Dumbledore's morning was, the members of the ICW committee showing up to inspect the school and it's records. This would upset McGonagall's day as she was the assistant head of the school and responsible for those records. The mail came and it included another red envelope for Ron from his mother, and everyone heard that one much to Ron's embarrassment.

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**A/N: The Bhut Jolokia has a Scoville rating of over 1 million units and is recognized as the hottest pepper in the world by the Guinness World Records.**

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	7. Chapter 7

Hogwarts Year 2

**More fun with Ron and Lockhart**

When Sirius and Augusta had finished their "talk" with Dumbledore and McGonagall there was an immediate change in the way DADA was handled. Many requirements and restrictions were set on Lockhart and his classes including Lockhart being forbidden to attempt any type of healing on a student or faculty member. The results of the ICW committee inspection of the school did nothing to help Lockhart's cause. The committee found that DADA and Divination were grossly mishandled and not in compliance with ICW standards, as such unless changes were made none of the students would receive credit for those two courses no matter what the scores were on OWL or NEWT exams.

In divination the heavy use of incense was frowned upon and the fact that the instructor appeared to be intoxicated didn't impress the committee. When asked to relate a true prediction, or a prediction that had come true, the instructor couldn't and the Headmaster couldn't document one either.

When the committee monitored the DADA classes Lockhart was unable to answer simple second year questions and also unable to demonstrate basic spells required for third years and above. In fact one of the classes monitored was Harry's and the fact that Neville could do the spells better than the instructor weighed greatly on their decision. McGonagall wasn't surprised that Neville did so well since he spent so much time with Harry and Hermione, of course she didn't mention the extra studies provided by herself and Prof. Flitwick.

Rick already knew about Snape, but the other two didn't, so he wasn't surprised when both of his counterparts questioned Snape's teaching skills. Since one was a world known potions mistress it was judged that Snape knew his potions, just not how to teach. The only class not monitored was Astronomy since that one only met at night and once a week for each class year. At the end of the ICW's visit Dumbledore was issued a warning about the standards at Hogwarts.

The classes in Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, Runes, and Arithmancy were the only ones where nothing could be found wrong. Care of Magical Creatures was found to need a wider variety of animals and needed to include water life forms in addition to the land dwelling specimens. The committee even found fault with the dietary aspects of Hogwarts, they said it was too rich in sugars and fat and it was lacking in dairy products needed by the first and second years. All in all it was a very bad day for Dumbledore.

Later that night when the threesome met once again in the Gryffindor suite. Hermione was excited that the ICW committee had found so many faults and mandated the changes that were needed. While they were discussing the day's events Harry had an idea. He went to the fireplace and called both Sirius and Rick and invited them to step through. This was the first time Rick had been in the chambers. He was surprised when he heard where he was it was reveled by a grinning Sirius that it had been he who suggested the ICW committee visit the school.

The five talked for a couple of hours before Rick and Sirius went back home. It was only after the two adults left that Hermione said she had an idea for a prank to pull on Ron Weasley, she would obtain a hair from one of the Slytherin girls and the next time Ron tried to slip her a potion she would insert that hair before switching the potions. Neville suggested Pansy Parkinson as the hair donor. The three retired back to their beds for the night after that.

It was the following weekend when Harry found, a first year Ravenclaw, Luna Lovegood in one of the hallways crying. After spending a few minutes Harry had her calmed down enough to tell him what was wrong. It seemed that her roommates had stolen some of her clothes and she was upset about it this time. Harry looked at her in surprise and asked about her wording. "This time?" he asked. Oh yes they do it quite often but this time they had taken something that had been Luna's mother so she was quite upset about it this time, Luna explained. Harry convinced Luna to come with him and they went straight to Prof. Flitwick where Harry related what Luna had told him. When Luna confirmed the tale the Prof. was upset that some of his "Claws" would do such a thing. Flitwick thanked Harry for bringing this to his attention and said he would take care of the matter immediately. Before he left, Harry told Luna that if she needed any help with classes or anything to come to either Hermione, Neville, or himself and they would be glad to help out if they could.

When Hermione and Neville heard about Luna they both told Harry that they thought he did the right thing and they would be glad to help almost any student who asked, except maybe most of the Slytherins. It was at supper that night that they found out that another student had been found petrified; this made for two students plus Mrs. Norris the cat. After supper as the students were leaving Luna came over to the Gryffindor table to speak with Harry and company.

Harry introduced Luna and then she told them what had happened after Harry left her with Prof. Flitwick. The two of them had gone to the Ravenclaw dorm and the Prof. had summoned all of her missing clothes and returned them to her. Flitwick then announced that he was very displeased with the prank against Ms. Lovegood and that if it happened again he would be taking points and giving detentions. He also was displeased that the prefects had turned a blind eye to this happening to a fellow Ravenclaw and a first year at that and warned them to keep a closer eye on the first years and to be more helpful or there would be the possibility of a few prefect badges changing ownership.

The four ,Harry, Hermione, Neville and Luna, went to the library together and Hermione helped Luna with her homework in Charms. Neville offered to help with Herbology and Harry said he would be glad to help with Transfiguration if needed. Luna asked who of the tree was the best in potions since she help with there too,Harry told her to ask Hermione, since Hermione was their Potions expert. It was during this time that Luna mentioned that she and Ginny had been friends for a long time, up until Luna's mother had died two years ago, but had drifted apart.

It was in their next DADA class that Lockhart was pranked again. After mentioning that the cast was starting to itch somewhat Hermione cast a wandless and silent itching spell, so that not only did the cast area itch but Lockhart's whole body itched. It was funny to watch Lockhart try to scratch with only the use of one hand. Harry added Ron to the itching so Lockhart wouldn't feel alone. When the twins heard about it they were upset that they didn't think of it themselves. Ron, and Lockhart, spent the rest of the week scratching thanks to his brothers. It got to be embarrassing for Ron as he kept scratching in places he shouldn't scratch in public and all of the girls were tired of watching.

It became common place to see Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Luna together in the library, since Luna wasn't allowed to come into the Gryffindor common-room. It was during one of these study sessions that Luna asked Harry why he had such an unusual aura. Harry wasn't sure how to answer that question without giving away his secrets. It was Hermione who came to the rescue by asking what Luna meant. Luna explained that she had always been able to see auras and that Harry's was unusual in that it was multicolored, Red, Gold, Green, and Silver, while Hermione and Neville only had simple colored auras. Hermione's was mostly Red with a hint of Gold and Blue, while Neville's was Red with a hint of Gold and Brown.

Hermione told Luna that the Red and Gold was probably due to their being Gryffindors, but couldn't explain the Green and Silver from Harry or the Blue or Brown for her and Neville. It was later when Harry explained to Hermione and Neville that he thought that the Green and Silver were due to his being the Magical heir to Slytherin, and that the Blue and Brown around Hermione and Neville might be due to their elementals. Harry told them that Luna's aura was Blue and Bronze with a hint of Green. He thought that the Blue and Bronze was due to her being a Ravenclaw, but was unsure about the Green.

"Harry, if you are the magical heir of Slytherin then why didn't you say so sooner? When did you find this out?", Hermione said in a rush, Neville just stood there with his mouth open.

Harry explained that he had found out that past summer and had not thought about it until now. But now maybe he should see if Hogwarts recognized him as the heir. Harry asked the question and Hogwarts replied that yes she saw him as the heir, but it was up to him to find the Slytherin quarters and library as that part of the castle was hidden even from her.

Soon it was time for another Quidditch match, this time between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Harry begged off going with Hermione and Neville as he needed to add to the power of Hogwarts and would probably be tired afterward. On the way to the pitch Ron made a move on Hermione by trying to grab her hand and ask her to be his girlfriend. This didn't end well for Ron as he suddenly found himself on the ground with a bloody nose. It seemed he had missed Hermione's hand and when she drew away his hand had brushed against her right breast. Hermione's left hook had not missed.

Meanwhile back in the chambers of Gryffindor Harry had finished pouring power into Hogwarts and was resting when he was told by Hogwarts that she had detected another heir. This one was for Ravenclaw and was female, but Hogwarts wasn't sure who it was exactly, Harry had an idea as to the identity of the heir but kept it to himself for now.

The Quidditch match was a long one as the Snitch was very elusive and the two Seekers had a hard time finding it. One of the highlights of the match was when Lockhart sprouted feathers and started to do the chicken dance in the staff box. This was pointed out loudly by the announcer, maybe it was a "happenstance" that the Weasley twins were close by when this happened.

~o~o~o~

Ginny Weasley was scared; she had awakened with blood on her hands and feathers on her robes a few weeks back. Now she woke up and found her robes dusty and they had a stale smell to them. She took out her diary and tried to record what she was feeling only to find it writing back that she must have been some place dusty and old and not to worry about it. But she had questions she didn't write, "Why were her shoes wet?", "Why did she keep losing time? She would awaken and several hours would have passed that she couldn't account for", and "Why was her brother trying so hard to make sure she drank her juice?"

~o~o~o~

Luna was doing much better in her classes now that she had help understanding; she was even included in the extra study sessions by McGonagall and Flitwick. Neville spent time with her explaining about plants and how to work with them and understand them. Luna wasn't included in the late night studies in the Gryffindor chambers she wasn't even aware of them, yet.

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**A/N: Well, we now have Luna Lovegood involved with our trio, so it is now a foursome. Yes Susan is still involved but to a lesser extent. Someone asked why British wizards knew about the hot peppers that originated in India; well, you must remember that India was a part of the British Commonwealth at one time.**

**Please be kind and comment**


	8. Chapter 8

Hogwarts Year 2

**Reports and dueling**

Three weeks after the ICW had inspected Hogwarts and they had sent an official copy of their report to Dumbledore, the Ministry, and to the Board of Governors for the school. The report, as Dumbledore suspected, wasn't very good.

To the ICW Board of Education and Certification

From ICW Committee in England

Subject: Review of Hogwarts School of Wizarding and Witchcraft

We the undersigned did on the 15th of October inspect this school and reviewed the relevant records. These are our findings:

Records

All records appear in order as to admissions

Records of students with at least one non-magical parent are not up to date and lack future projections for new students

Records of test results are suspect as noted below

Academia

Course review

Transfiguration – no deficiencies, Instructor is well versed in subject and well qualified

Charms – no deficiencies, Instructor is well versed in subject and a past dueling champion, well qualified

Herbology – no problems found, greenhouses well kept and well stocked

Runes – no deficiencies

Arithmancy – no deficiencies

Care of Magical Creatures – deficient in creatures from aquatic environments and limited aerial creatures

Astronomy – not reviewed due to night classes only

Divination – classroom full of strong incense almost nauseating, instructor unable to document ability and ability not documented by Headmaster. Instructor appeared intoxicated. Recommend replacing Instructor.

Potions – instructor holds Mastery Certificate and able to answer questions well. Instructional technique very poor and showed favoritism toward own house over other students. Recommend instructor take remedial teaching and refrain from using mind arts or students.

Defense Against the Dark Arts – many deficiencies noted. Instructor on probation due to vanishing of bones in student's arm to treat broken arm, instructor unable to answer simple questions from second year level, unable to perform basic third year spells required (second year student able to perform spells correctly). Strongly recommend removal and possibly binding of magical core due to danger to others and self.

Past test results reviewed – based on inspection suspect scores reported incorrectly and possibly misreported

Student interviews

First year – 6 students interviewed (2 non-magical parents, 2 mixed parents, 2 "pure blood") responses normal for full magical, limited for part and non-magical parents

Second year – see above, low scores in DADA – one exceptional full magical scored at 4th year level

Third year – see above; low scores in DADA

Forth year – as above

Fifth year – as above

Sixth year – see above

Seventh year – as above for distribution, full magical ready for employment, part and non-magical not fully prepared

Recommendations

School placed on probationer status

ICW monitoring of all OWL and NEWT testing for two years

Removal of two instructors

Re-education of Potions instructor in teaching methods

Caution Headmaster regarding use of Mind Magic on students by instructors before these are covered in class and school has signed permission from parents or guardian

Dumbledore was most unhappy when he found out that Ron Weasley had not been able to get the potion into Ms. Granger. That Harry was still not taking a liking to Ms. Weasley was putting a delay into Dumbledore's plan but on the same line of thought Ms Weasley was not showing any feelings for Mr Potter either

Augusta Longbottom personally came to Hogwarts and informed Dumbledore that there was to be a school board meeting over the Christmas holidays. Dumbledore knew he would not be able to enjoy the holidays now and no holiday trips either.

There was a notice posted on all the dorm boards announcing the formation of a dueling club and it was mandatory attendance for the first meeting of each year. Second years were to meet at 7pm on the following Thursday after supper.

When Harry and friends arrived they saw Prof. Snape there and hoped that he wasn't the instructor, maybe they would get lucky and it would be Flitwick. After all, Prof. Flitwick was an ex-dueling champion. No such luck, it turned out the instructor was Lockhart ,who was more interested in being seen than anything else.

First there was a very brief demonstration by Lockhart and Snape in which Lockhart ended up on his rear. Next Lockhart thought it would be appropriate to have two students face each other despite not having instructed anyone in the correct spells or methods. Lockhart chose Harry and Ron, but Snape suggested that Ron was a danger with his broken wand and suggested Draco instead.

Harry and Draco took their places on the stage and were instructed to disarm only, no dangerous spells were allowed. Harry's disarming charm knocked Draco back several feet in addition to separating him from his wand. The two were instructed to try again and Harry was asked to at least allow Draco to try and cast a spell. Harry knew his shield was more than enough to resist Malfoy's spells so he waited this time.

Instead of casting a disarming spell Draco cast a spell that summoned a large snake onto the platform. Harry just looked at the snake and summoned a Mongoose to combat the snake, and then Harry separated Malfoy from his wand again This time Malfoy ended up on his rear again with ropes around him and Harry was holding his wand.

"It figures Malfoy; you send a snake to do what you can't. I thought the idea was to disarm each other not play a prank." Harry said as he tossed Draco's wand to Lockhart.

Lockhart said he would take care of the snake and before anyone could do anything Lockhart banished the Mongoose and tossed the snake into the air. Unfortunately, being tossed into the air just irritated the snake further and the snake would have landed amongst the students except as it fell back down it bounced off an invisible barrier; only to land in front of Lockhart, who fainted on the spot.

"Well isn't that nice? The Professor left the snake to terrorize the students while he takes a nap", Hermione said as she banished the snake before it could bite someone.

"Potter, would you care to explain what spell you used to bind Mr. Malfoy as it doesn't respond to the finite spell", Snape asked.

Harry looked at Draco and scratched his head then cast Finite Incantatum and watched the ropes disappear. Snape was not happy that he had been unable to end the spell of a student, and that a student had thought to banish the snake before he could.

After the dueling club meeting that it was discovered that another student had been petrified, this one had been a sixth year – Penny Clearwater, Percy's new girlfriend. Many of the younger students were getting worried, if a sixth year couldn't defend themselves then what chance did they have?

* * *

**A/N: Well the review from the ICW wasn't good as you can see. Lockhart had a harder time than in the books and movie, oh well. Ron may learn his lesson soon, but not this year.**

**Please be kind and comment**


	9. Chapter 9

Hogwarts Year 2

**Christmas Break**

Christmas break was almost upon Hogwarts and all the students were looking forward to this time off from school, especially Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Luna. A week before the break Harry asked Luna if she would like to come over to his house and join the trio during the break, she said she would be happy to come over if it was okay with her father. Harry suggested she send an owl to any of them once she found out what her father said, and that he was welcome as well.

The train ride home was pleasant, until Malfoy showed his face in the door of the compartment. It seemed that he just didn't get it, he wasn't welcome. Draco started out by insulting Luna that was as far as he got as Neville placed a zipper on Malfoy's mouth. That was funny enough but it got funnier when one of his bodyguards tried to remove it and did the spell wrong causing boils to appear all over Draco's face. Luna added insult to injury by saying that even Draco should be able to brew the potion to fix the boils once he got home.

Once they arrived at the station they found Augusta Longbottom, Sirius, and Dan Granger waiting for the kids. Luna asked if they would like to meet her dad and then lead the whole crew over to Mr. Lovegood introducing them. While they were all talking Harry noticed that Draco wasn't receiving a very warm welcome as he still had a zipper in place of a mouth and the boils were getting worse. It was then that Harry noticed the elf with the Malfoy family, it was Dobby.

Harry acted like he didn't see the elf and turned to Neville and asked how long the zipper would last, Neville said he wasn't sure since he was so mad at the time he had put a lot of energy into the spell. Harry thought about canceling the spell until he saw Draco pointing at them and Lucius reaching for his wand. Suddenly Malfoy Sr. was thrown backwards for no apparent reason, except Harry saw Dobby hide quickly.

Luna and her dad agreed that they would join Harry and friends two days after Christmas so the kids could exchange gifts and spend some non school time together. Once at home Harry told Sirius about what he had seen on the platform.

~o~o~o~

Ron Weasley was in trouble when his mother found out he had broken his wand and not told anyone, it had been her brother's wand after all. Mr. Weasley said they would just have to find the money to replace the wand or see if it could be repaired when they went to Diagon Alley to finish Christmas shopping.

Mr. Ollivander said he could repair the wand for 3 gallons or sell them a new one for 7 gallons; they left the wand to be repaired. Ginny made sure she got a gift for Hermione and one for Harry since they had been so nice to her and given her so much help with her classes. Ron had been a git as far as help with studies went and in general Ginny thought.

~o~o~o~

It was two days before Christmas when Harry was able to go to Diagon Alley to finish his Christmas shopping. He got Hermione a set of book charms for her bracelet so she could copy more of the books in the library, plus he got her a newly published book on spell creation. For Neville, Harry got a new full service broom kit and a set of teacher edition books on exotic magical plants.

While in the alley Harry made a stop by the bank to talk with Ragnok about getting Luna tested to see if she was the heir of Ravenclaw as he suspected. Harry also wanted to know what exactly he could do as the magical heir of Slytherin. Ragnok told Harry that as the magical heir he controlled any and all magic related to Slytherin, to include any magical devices made using Slytherin magic. That might be handy Harry thought.

Stopping in at the wizarding accessories shop Harry inquired if they had any holsters that would hold two wands and allow the user to select which wand was used, they did and it included the same feathers as the one he had gotten in the states. Harry also picked up a holster that he thought Luna would like as a Christmas present for her. Since Neville and Luna had hit it off so well Neville had confided in Harry that he was picking something up for Luna that was personal and he hoped she would like it. Neville then blushed and said he wasn't very good at picking out presents for girls.

On Christmas morning Harry was awoken by Sirius at the crack of dawn so the two of them could see what presents had arrived overnight. Harry wondered who was the bigger kid him or Sirius as his guardian let out a whoop of delight at the large amount of presents under the tree. Harry had the usual, large amounts of sweets, new Gryffindor scarves, socks, and a surprise present from Ragnok – a new cloak that had an unusual design on it. The design was a combination of the Potter, Gryffindor, and Slytherin crests embroidered on the left chest and the cloak was lined with dragon skin. A note with the cloak said that the dragon skin was specially treated so it was very thin but just as strong as regular dragon skin to repel spells.

After a huge breakfast, Harry, Sirius, Remus, Rick, and Lucy went to open presents under the tree. Harry received a new pair of dragon hide boots from the elves, dress robes from Lucy, a wand and staff polishing kit from Rick, a set of magic mirrors from Sirius, and a large block of Honeydukes chocolate from Remus. There was a large box left under the tree and Lucy said it was not to be opened until Hermione and Neville arrived as it contained surprises for all three of them.

Two days after Christmas and Harry's friends had started to arrive. The first was Neville, and his grandmother, via the floo, next Hermione and her parents came up in the Granger's car, and finally the Lovegoods to arrive via house-elf (it had been Sirius' idea to ask Gustus to have them brought that way since they didn't have access to the Potter floo). Augusta said she couldn't stay long as today was the meeting between the board and Dumbledore, but she hoped that Neville could stay until she returned. Harry said Neville was welcome anytime and for as long as he wanted to stay. Augusta then asked if maybe Rick could accompany her as a representative of the ICW, Rick said he would be glad to but reminded her that he wasn't supposed to know Harry and company. The two left shortly thereafter.

After Rick and Augusta had left the kids exchanged gifts with each other. Hermione had given books to everyone, Luna gave each of them a year's subscription to, the newspaper her father was the editor and owner of, the Quibbler; Neville gave Harry and Hermione books on Charms and Transfiguration but gave Luna a nice necklace and earring set. Hermione was thrilled with the charms and the book from Harry, Neville said he could use the broom kit and the book on exotic plants was great, Luna was tickled to receive the wand holster – especially when she found out it would prevent her wand from being taken and keep the wand hidden as well.

Then it was time for Lucy to bring out the big box that she had made Harry leave alone. The kids noticed that the box was addressed to Harry, Hermione, and Neville. Once opened, the box was shown to contain presents from Peaks and from Hogwarts. Alana had sent them a set of books on Elementals with a note from Alana:

_**Harry, Hermione, and Neville – this is the full set of books on Elementals, the only problem is you three have already proved some of it wrong. Way to go! You are all three invited back this summer and I hope you bring more friends, enclosed are four applications (if you need more let me know) for your friends.**_

The next present was from Grimstead and the note said these were copies of the only books he could find on the use of a staff, since that was a lost art. He hoped the three of them would enjoy them and put them to use. Also included was a set of books on warding.

The third present was from McGonagall and Flitwick and it contained an advanced copy of the most advanced Transfiguration and Charms books, plus a set of books on dueling. Harry felt sorry for Luna as she watched the three open the gifts.

"Luna, I guess you are wondering about all these things. Well, an explanation is in order but you and your dad must swear to keep this a secret for now." Harry said.

"Oh you mean that you are the heir of Gryffindor and Slytherin, plus Lord Potter?" Luna replied.

"How did you know that? This can't be public knowledge and isn't for publication", Harry relied with surprise.

"Oh the nargles told me, you know you can't hide anything from them" Luna continued, "And of course I haven't told my father, he might not understand how a Gryffindor could be the heir of Slytherin".

Harry was shocked at this news, and what were nargles? Harry got Hermione and Neville and the four of them went outside and directly to the stables. Once there Harry asked everyone to have a seat and he would explain some things to Luna, and them.

"First, Luna knows about my titles – all three of them. I've already explained that what she hears and sees has to remain a secret. Now as you figured out I am Lord Potter and Lord Gryffindor, but I'm only the magical heir to Slytherin. Also, Neville Hermione and I have been going to school during the summer in America. Thanks to that we are really ahead of the classes at Hogwarts. All three of us can call, or summon, at least one Elemental. Neville's is an Earth, Hermione's is an Air, and I can call both Air and Fire Elementals. If what I suspect is true then you may be able to call an Elemental also. That is one of the reasons we came out here is to give you a chance to try, the other reason was to explain all this to you", Harry explained.

"Calling an Elemental sounds nice, but I don't know how to do that. I don't think Hogwarts even teaches that", Luna replied.

Harry pulled out his Elemental rods and explained that all Luna had to do was to take each one and give it a wave, if she had the skill then one of the rods would react and an Elemental would appear. Luna smiled and as she selected the first rod she commented," Oh rather like finding a wand at Olivander's shop then." Luna selected a rod and gave it a wave, a small amount of smoke came out. She tried another rod and a watery shaped girl appeared and bowed to her. Luna was surprised, but didn't appear scared when the Elemental spoke to her in her mind. After a few minutes Luna said the Elemental had told her it couldn't stay long but would come back, if called, in about 6 hours. Hermione explained that Luna had to give permission for the Elemental to leave before it was too weak and that Elementals could understand spoken words. Luna told the "girl" that she could leave whenever she needed to and she would call her again soon.

After the girl had left, Luna tried another rod and got a slight breeze; she tried the last rod and the dirt floor moved a little and several flowers appeared. Harry explained that she had a very slight connection to Earth, but her primary was Water. Hermione commented that now they could call all four Elementals, Earth (for Neville), Water (for Luna), Air (for both her and Harry), and Fire (Harry alone). Hermione went on to explain that Luna needed to think of a name for her Elemental and needed to call her often as the more she interacted with an Elemental the stronger the Elemental became.

Luna asked if they could call their Elementals for her. Harry called Firebeard and Windford, Hermione called Windy, and Neville called Rocky. Luna was amazed at the sizes of the Elementals, Harry's and Hermione's were much larger than they were, while Neville's was only slightly larger than Neville. When Luna commented about the sizes Harry explained that the stronger the elemental the larger it was. Harry went on to say that he and Hermione had been calling theirs for almost two years and Neville for only one.

"Is this how one of you froze that Bludger that attacked Harry?" Luna asked.

"Yes, that was Windy. When I saw that Bludger attacking Harry I called her and she was able to capture it and hold it so Harry could get free of it. None of us saw the second Bludger until it hit Harry though", Hermione explained.

"How do you call them without using one of the rods or your wand?" Luna asked.

It was Neville's turn to explain that after a while you didn't need a wand or rod to call your Elementals. "It becomes almost second nature, also that's why you give your Elemental a name to make it easier to call them. We also need to get you a wand that the Ministry can't track so you can practice at home and not have the Ministry breathing down your neck for 'underage magic'. Harry doesn't have that problem since there are so many adults around the Ministry can't tell who did what, so he can practice more."

Harry said he would let Luna borrow the Rod of Water Elementals so she could call hers at home until it was like Neville said, second nature. But she had to take care of it and keep it out of sight of anyone else not associated with them. Harry went on to say that if Luna's father allowed it, she could come with them this summer to America and get extra training like they did. Luna liked that idea and said she would try and convince her father to let her go if it didn't cost too much. Neville offered to loan her the money if needed and she could take as long as she liked to pay it back if she wanted. This brought a smile to Hermione's face and a wink from Harry.

It was time to head back to the house so the trio released their Elementals and headed back inside. On the way Hermione offered to work with Luna to improve her flying skills if Luna wanted. Luna said she needed help as she just barely got through the flying course at Hogwarts.

Once back at the house Harry asked Luna to get her dad and come to Gringotts with him. Once Luna had her dad Harry used his portkey to take them to the bank. At the bank Harry asked that Luna be tested for her lineage. The test confirmed that Luna was the Ravenclaw heir. Ragnok explained that due to her age she could not have full access to the Ravenclaw vault, but the bank would setup an allowance account for her.

Ragnok then had Luna try on the Ravenclaw ring, it re-sized to fit her finger and she was surrounded by a Blue and Bronze aura briefly. At Hogwarts another door glowed behind a tapestry in the Ravenclaw common-room and a door appeared in Harry's office in the Gryffindor quarters, a door with the crest of Ravenclaw on it. Hogwarts felt the emergence of another heir and was pleased; she now had three heirs accounted for, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.

~o~o~o~

Augusta Longbottom and Rick arrived at Hogwarts and were soon joined by the rest of the board. As a group they made their way to Dumbledore's office for the meeting. Mrs. Longbottom called the meeting to order then said, "We are here today to discuss the report made by the ICW inspection team on October 15th of this year. This report was not very favorable and as such we need to decide if we should continue to allow Albus Dumbledore to continue as Headmaster after the present year. Joining us today is Richard Green the representative to the ICW from the US. Mr. Green, do you have anything to add to the report before we begin?"

"Yes, it seems that the report was missing the entry for Magical History. We did monitor that course and were disappointed to find that the only area covered were the Goblin Wars. Our representative was put to sleep by the instructor, who is a ghost, and most of the students were either sleeping or doing work from other classes. Our recommendation to the ICW will be to replace this instructor as soon as possible. We regret this omission and a supplemental report has been forwarded to the ICW, you should receive your copy after the holidays", Rick answered.

Dumbledore's face fell at this news, another teacher to replace. Dumbledore was surprised when McGonagall entered the office and apologized for being late; this did not bode well in his mind he had not known that she had been invited to the meeting. Why would they invite McGonagall if they weren't planning on replacing him at the end of this meeting?

"We will take the report in the same order it was submitted, starting with the records. Professor McGonagall, why is there no forecast information for muggle-born students? It was my understanding that the book updated automatically, should that not be the case please explain why not." Augusta asked.

McGonagall explained that the report didn't mention muggle-born students but half-blood students (students with one magical parent). She went on to say that yes the Book of Students did update automatically, but the book at Hogwarts was a copy of the book in the Ministry and she had no control over that book. As to the muggle-born students they were only added when the child did accidental magic the first time and it was noted by the Ministry.

Next the board went over the review of classes; McGonagall was congratulated on the report on her abilities. They went down the list and the first question was about Care of Magical Creatures and why there were no water creatures studied and why so few flying creatures. Dumbledore said the water creatures required too much special treatment to be practical and the flying creatures were always flying off. Rick jumped in and asked if the Black Lake was not enough to keep some water creatures close by for study. Dumbledore admitted that they had never considered that idea.

The next question was about Divination and why they had an intoxicated instructor and why the amount of incense used was so high. Dumbledore couldn't answer those questions and couldn't explain why he couldn't document a single true prediction by the instructor.

"Dumbledore, why is Prof. Snape still allowed to show favoritism towards his own house? We have had this discussion before and you assured the board that it would be taken care of and the instructor disciplined. And what is that man doing using mind magics on students? That is to stop as of right now and if we hear one more report of that happening then he will be sent to Azkaban as required by law. And I don't think Snape is the only professor using mind magics on students either", Augusta said accusingly.

Next to be discussed was Defense, the only question was what possessed Dumbledore to hire Lockhart anyway? The fact that a second year student out preformed him was appalling. One of the board members suggested that an auror from the DMLE be asked to teach the class and that Lockhart be removed before the end of the holidays. Dumbledore commented that he wasn't sure if that would happen as getting an auror would be very hard on such short notice.

After much discussion the board agreed that Lockhart, Binns, and Trelawney would be replaced with qualified instructors before the next school year, that Snape was to be monitored, by an outside monitoring system, for his teaching methods and removed if they didn't improve, and Dumbledore was warned that his job was on the line. McGonagall asked why Muggle Studies wasn't included in the inspection and Rick told her that it wasn't an ICW course per se, but it was suggested as a one semester study group and should to be taught by a muggle-born or half-blood.

This had been a very bad day for Albus (too many names) Dumbledore, not only did he have to listen to the board tear the school apart but he was now required to do something about Severus' teaching and attitude. Now instead of hiring one instructor he had to find three, maybe four if Severus didn't come around, for the next year. Yes, it was time for a good stiff drink and maybe a large headache potion.

~o~o~o~

Augusta and Rick returned to Potter Manor and told everyone what had occurred with the meeting and the decisions reached by the board. Lucy offered to send Dumbledore calming and headache potions but thought that might not be appropriate. When Neville asked if he could return to Peaks the next summer, Augusta replied "Of course, you have to have a good education from somewhere". Mr. Lovegood had already said Luna could go if she wanted, and she did want to go.

The rest of the break was spent with Luna learning about her Elemental, catching up on her spell work and flying skills. Both Luna and Neville became a regular guest at Potter Manor, Harry spent time at each of his properties and made sure that all the wards were up to date and well charged. He even took his friends to see the dragons and to the sanctuary, where they found out Luna had a connection with most animals. Harry gave Luna one more present; a set of dragon skin armor to wear under her robes, just like Hermione, Neville, and he wore.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to Arkenstone007 for pointing out the course I forgot to rate, this error has been corrected in this chapter. Luna is now part of the group and will find Ravenclaw quarters when they get back to school. What do you think of the board's decisions?**

**Please ****be kind and comment**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hogwarts Year 2**

**Surprise, Surprise, Surprise**

With two weeks until school started back Harry, Hermione and Neville were going to take the animagus potion to see what, if anything, they might become. The trio, Sirius, Remus, and Lucy went to a stone chamber in the dungeon of the Potter Manor. Dan and Emma Granger, along with Rick, would stay upstairs so as not to distract the kids.

When they entered the basement chamber Harry immediately noticed that there were three mattresses on the floor, spaced around the room.

"Okay kids, here we are, the mattresses are for you three to lie on, which is better than James and I had when we did this. We had to lie on the cold floor old in an old shack", Sirius said as they entered. "Now each of you kids pick a mattress. As you can see there are three of you, three of us and of three mattresses so, I will stay by Harry, Remus will stay with Neville, and Lucy will stay with Hermione", Sirius continued.

"This potion was difficult to make, but once made it should be stable for some months, so we have extra on hand if needed. In addition, I have brought a mild calming potion for each of you to use. Remus will explain what will happen and how this will go as he is the most qualified in Transfiguration, which is where animagus transformation is based", Lucy added as she joined Hermione on one of the mattresses.

"I assume you three have done your homework and read the books and pamphlets Sirius gave you. I also assume you have been practicing your centering and relaxation techniques. What will happen is this; you will drink half of the calming potion then lie down on your mattress and relax. Once the potion has taken effect you will drink the second potion, the animagus revealing potion and hopefully you will see your form. The adults are here to make sure that you three stay safe. On rare occasions when you find your form the potion changes you immediately into that form. This doesn't happen often but it has been known to happen, if your form was say a fish then you might die since you aren't in water. We are here to cast the reversal spell if that happens so that you will be forced back into your natural form. Once the effects of the potion are over, and it only lasts about an hour, you will be sleepy and need a short nap. Now are there any questions before you start?" Remus explained.

There were no questions so each kid was handed a small potion vial and told to drink half. Harry could tell this was made by Lucy as it had a slight mint taste to it. After a few minutes the kids were given the second potion vial and told to drink all of it down quickly as it didn't taste very good. Next they were given a small amount of juice to counteract the foul taste and told to go into their meditative state so the potion could do it work.

Harry centered himself and soon found that he was in a meadow and he could see a blanket on the ground in the middle of the field. He walked over and sat down on the blanket, he felt very much at peace right now. Harry had only been sitting there a few minutes when a fairly large bird landed on the end of the blanket. The bird was bright red but had white tips on its wings and a long tail. As Harry studied the bird, the bird seemed to be studying Harry. Soon the bird moved closer and started to sing, the sound was very relaxing and seemed to encourage Harry to touch the bird. As Harry reached out towards the bird it came closer and ducked its head so Harry could stroke its feathers, the bird was soft and very warm; as Harry stroked it the bird seemed to merge with Harry. Suddenly Harry was seeing things from a different view, the colors were brighter and he seemed closer to the ground than a minute before. Harry jumped and found himself in the air flying, he was the bird!

Harry landed and blinked only to find himself back to normal with the bird sitting on his right shoulder making that soft thrill sound that was so relaxing. Harry felt, more than heard, something beside him and when he looked he saw a very large snake slither up beside him. The snake was swaying to the "music" of the bird and Harry could hear it saying something in snake language:

_**You are I,**_

_**I are you.**_

_**Touch me,**_

_**We are two**__._

Harry slowly reached out to touch the snake; the feeling was cool and slick, but dry. As he stroked the snake it flattened out it "neck" and formed a hood, this was a Cobra – a King Cobra! Suddenly he was seeing things differently, the colors were muted. He looked and saw the bird sitting in front of him but couldn't hear it; but he felt the vibrations as it sang, this made him feel safe and calm. He blinked and once again he was sitting on the blanket with the bird on his right shoulder and the snake's head coming up over his left shoulder.

Then Harry woke up to see Sirius looking very scared and pointing his wand at him. Harry hurt all over, he felt as if he had been twisted all about, wrung out like a wet towel. Then Harry fell over and went to sleep.

Hermione found her center quickly and then found herself standing in a forest at night, she could see the moon big and bright over head and in a tree next to her she could see a large owl sitting on a low branch. As she studied the owl it seemed to study her. Then it suddenly took flight and circled around Hermione landing on her outstretched arm. Hermione brought her arm closer and tried to stroke the bird, it was soft and warm in spite of its "ruffled" looks. The "ruffled" looks reminded Hermione of her own hair when she had been out in the wind. As she stroked the bird she found herself sitting on a branch in the tree and things looked very differently, it seemed a little brighter and she could hear many insects chirping nearby. _"I'm an owl!"_ Hermione heard herself jumped from the branch and took flight, this felt great. Soon she landed only to find herself in human form sitting on the same low branch she had first seen the owl, which was sitting on her right shoulder and was slightly heavy. Hermione found herself waking up and seeing Lucy squatting in front of her smiling, and then Hermione fell over and went to sleep.

Neville had a little trouble centering himself but eventually found himself walking through a forest. He came upon a large tree and noticed a hole at the base; he saw a head poking out the hole and heard a hissing sound mixed with a growl. The next thing Neville knew he was awake and Remus was looking at him, then Neville fell over, asleep.

Harry woke up, again, and looked around. He saw Hermione asleep on a mattress to his right and saw Neville asleep on another mattress kind of to his left. Sirius was sitting at his feet and still had his wand out and loosely pointed at him. Harry heard Hermione moan and when he looked in that direction he saw her waking up and stretching. Soon Neville was awake also and all three were given some water to drink, Harry wondered why he was so thirsty.

"Sirius why did you have your wand pointed at me?" Harry asked as soon as he could get his voice back, his throat was very dry.

Sirius just sat there and stared at him for a few seconds before answering, "Harry you remember what Remus said about sometimes that potion could force a change before you were ready?" Harry nodded and Sirius continued, "Well you experienced that effect and I had to force you back into your human form. Harry you were a very large snake and to be honest you scared the crap out of me".

"But Sirius, I was a bird first. Did that scare you too?" Harry asked.

"Harry, the bird didn't scare me. You were a bird for a few minutes then changed back as I was about to make you change. Then suddenly you were a big, very big, snake and that scared the crap of me. You reminded me of one of those snakes you see in India that the so called 'snake charmers' play with. But you were at least 2 meters long and as big as your leg. I'm not sure if I changed you or if you changed yourself, since you changed back to human form just as I cast that spell", Sirius replied and sounded shaken.

The six of them sat around and each one of the kids told what they had experienced. Hermione went first and afterward everyone congratulated her on her form. Neville went next and was disappointed that he didn't see his form but did explain what he had seen. Remus told him sometimes that happened and they would have to try again sometime when he was more able to center himself. Then it was Harry's turn to tell what he experienced. When he finished Hermione and Neville both just stared at him, along with all the adults (Sirius still looked scared).

Harry, are you sure you saw two forms? That is almost unheard of, of course Merlin was rumored to have more than one form but we don't really know for sure. Maybe you just needed to choose which form", Remus said.

"Mooney, I saw him change into two different animals. One was a bird, but the second was a very large snake that scared the crap out of me. I'm still not sure if he changed himself or if I forced him to change back", Sirius jumped in to say.

"Harry only you would have two forms. We need to look and see if we can identify our exact forms. I for one would like to know what type of owl I might become, and I'm sure you want to know what type bird and or snake you are. Can you use magic while you are in an animal form? That would be hard to combat if you weren't expecting it", Hermione said with a smile.

Remus explained that he wasn't sure about using magic while in an animal form but they could ask McGonagall since she was the only other animagus he knew who might know that answer. But he reminded the kids to keep this a secret as if it was found out they would be required to register their forms and then everyone would know. If they kept it a secret then they would have an advantage over any death eaters who tried to cause problems. The six of them went back upstairs to see the other three adults and to let them know everything was fine.

Once back upstairs they found Dan and Rick engaged in a chess match and Emma reading a Dentist trade journal. Everyone quit what they were doing to talk with the kids and find out what had happened. Hermione announced that she was an owl, Neville seemed embarrassed that he hadn't found his form yet, and Harry just mentioned that he was a bird of some kind he purposely didn't mention his second form, that was a secret,for everyone that had been in the basement for now. The nine of them talked for a while but soon it was plain that the three kids were very tired With Neville and Hermione spending the night the three said their good nights and trudged up to bed

Albus Dumbledore was confused; he couldn't understand how the ICW had found so many things wrong with his Hogwarts. He now had to replace three instructors, maybe four if Severus couldn't improve his teaching methods,the instructors had been hand picked by Dumbledore with the proper training of Harry Potter in mind. And speaking of that boy,what to do about Harry Potter. The plan had been that Harry was supposed to be so beaten down that he would readily accept what the Headmaster said. This was not how it was working at all. Maybe another cup of Chamomile tea would serve to help him relax and get a good night's sleep. He would deal with all this in the morning, now where did he put that headache potion?

Luna was still trying to get used to it, she was the heir of Ravenclaw and even better then that she had friends, real true friends! She had not had any friends for such a long time; Ginny Weasley used to be her friend and was acting more like a friend again but Luna didn't know what to think about all, and to top it all off she could summon – no, call – a Water Elemental. She would have to spend more time with Neville and her other friends so she could learn more about being an heir and how to work with her Elemental.

The next morning Harry, Hermione, and Neville had just finished breakfast and and started discussing the pros and cons of going flying, but a quick look out the window and it was decided that with the snowstorm going on outside no flying would be happening that morning since too dangerous. Remus suggested to the disappointed teens that they spend part of the day working on their animagus transformations instead of flying. It would take a while to master the transformation and be safe. Remus told the threesome that until they had permission from both their guardians and him they were not to try anything on their own, it was too dangerous.

The five of them, Harry, Hermione, Neville, Sirius, and Remus got together in one of the sitting rooms to work on the new skill. The first thing was to identify the correct animal that they could/would become after the transformation. It took a while but Neville finally found a picture of the animal he had seen under the potion, it was a Pine Marten. Hermione finally identified her owl form as a Long-eared Owl. It took even longer for them to find Harry's bird form; it turned out it was a Phoenix – which is a magical creature – and that it was very rare for someone to have a magical form. Harry had found a good picture of his other form, a King Cobra, but kept that bit of information to himself for now.

The next step was to be able to visualize their form clearly in their minds, so clearly that they could focus on one part of their body at a time. The next step would be to change a part of their human form to match their animal form, usually a foot or hand first. This would be harder for Harry and Hermione since their arms would become wings and their feet would be smaller, much smaller. Sirius showed them how to start by changing just his right hand into a paw and back.

Harry was able to change his right arm into a wing, which looked weird, and had a little difficulty changing it back. Hermione tried to change a foot but couldn't do it. Not being able to do something well on the first or third try upset Hermione but Sirius said it took some people longer to get the knack of changing their bodies than others. Surprisingly Neville changed his hand with little problem, until it was time to change back; Remus had to help him out.

After lunch Luna called and asked if it would be okay to come over, Harry told her to step through. Luna was surprised when she learned what the threesome had been up to that morning and wanted to try it. Remus told her she needed to be able to center herself first, and was surprised when Luna did the centering almost instantly. Remus said to give him a little time to get everything prepared for Luna but in the mean time the four decided to go downstairs and let Luna practice calling her elemental and showing her some of the spells they had learned.

~o~o~o~

Ginny was sitting in her room looking over some of the gifts she had gotten and decided to write in her diary. The next thing she knew it was an hour later and her mother was calling her downstairs to help in the kitchen. What had happened to that hour was Ginny's question to herself.

At Hogwarts Dumbledore called for Severus but received no answer. Thinking that maybe Tom wasn't too far off with his dark mark being able to call his Death Eaters at a moments notice he called one of the house elves and was told him Prof. Snape had gone out about an hour before and had not returned yet. Dumbledore was annoyed at this Severus knew that "for his own good" Dumbledore required him to let Dumbledore know when Snape was leaving the property. After all Dumbledore wouldn't want anything to happen to his potions master now would he. Snape had left earlier that morning to visit with his godson, Draco Malfoy, to see if he could convince him to curb his actions toward Potter, before Draco ended up seriously hurt or worse. When Snape returned to Hogwarts he was told that Dumbledore was looking for him and went to see was what needed, probably another potion.

"Severus, my boy, I hope your holiday is going well. As you know I met with the board of governors the other day and they had a few requests, a couple of which concern you. They were disturbed by the report from the ICW team and wanted some of the problems addressed quickly. You were caught using Legilimency on students by the ICW team; you must to be more careful with that. Also, the board has received several reports that you continue to show favoritism to your own house and penalize the other houses, this has to stop also. And finally, you must start explaining potion making and not just putting the recipe on the board and expecting the students to get it correct. The board is going to put someone in your class to monitor it, if these things aren't changed then they will force me to get rid of you at the end of the year – if not sooner", Dumbledore explained.

Severus Snape was not prepared for these developments. Dumbledore had always protected him and allowed him to teach the way he felt most comfortable. Now he was being told that these things had to change and quickly or else he would lose his job and his home but most importantly without Dumbledore protecting him he might end up dead or worse in Azkaban.

Prof. McGonagall was relaxing in her quarters with a nice cup of tea and thinking about what the board had demanded of the Headmaster and wondered how he was going to get out of this one. She had been aware of the problems caused by Severus, had never had any use for Trelawney as she didn't think Divination was a real subject, and had wondered about Binns for some time, since he was still teaching the same lessons she had been forced to sit through as a student. The only difference was he was rumored to have been alive when he was teaching at that time. Lockhart was a real waste of time; she had monitored a few of his classes in her animagus form and knew Lockhart wasn't teaching anything worthwhile. McGonagall's thoughts drifted to the three Gryffindors, Harry, Hermione, and Neville; those three were miles ahead of their class and really should skip a year, or two, so they could be challenged more. The ICW would agree to this as would the board of governors but Dumbledore would throw up such road blocks and make this so difficult for the trio that maybe allowing them to stay where they were would be less stressful for them. McGonagall sighed and peered deeply into her tea for answers that just might be floating just below the surface.

~o~o~o~

Spending a good portion of the afternoon practicing calling their elementals and with Luna being shown several new spells they took a break to have a snack. It was during this break that Luna asked what it meant to be the heir of Ravenclaw, what would she have to do once back at school? Harry told her the first thing to do was to locate the Ravenclaw quarters and that most likely she would be the only one allowed inside until she had claimed her rights. Harry gave her a brief rundown of what he had to do when he found the Gryffindor quarters. After their snack and talk Luna was introduced to Occlumency and she was a natural. Lucy and Rick even came in to test all the kids and were very surprised at Luna's level. It was noted that Luna needed to practice more so she could keep her shields up all the time,especially in potions and around Snape. Privately Lucy and Rick felt that Luna needed to keep her shields up around Dumbledore also, especially with Luna's new strong friendship with Harry Hermione and Neville. But neither felt it was appropriate to say anything to the young lady about that just yet.

It was while testing Harry that Rick got his biggest surprise; he got pulled into that dark area in Harry's mind and couldn't find his way out until Harry released him. Lucy had some trouble also, but finally got inside Hermione's mind only to find herself in a maze until she could pull out of that mind-scape. Rick tried Neville, after a rest from Harry's tricks, and found a wall of plants that attacked him every time he tried to go anywhere. Lucy tested Luna and found herself surrounded by strange creatures she had never seen before and then was confronted by a wall of stone that surrounded her. These kids had very good shields, especially Harry - his were just plain scary according to Rick.

* * *

**A/N: Okay next up back to school and Luna finding the Ravenclaw quarters and the connecting door/hallway to Gryffindor's quarters. Do you think the kids will quit trying their animagus forms once back at school? **

**Please be kind and comment**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hogwarts Year 2**

**Three Out of Four Present and Accounted For**

The holidays had been fun but it was time for work,it was time to go back to school. Since he had a small problem at the start of school last year Harry used the floo to get to the platform this time. The foursome met up in their usual compartment and were soon joined by Ginny and Susan for the trip back to Hogwarts.

As usual Malfoy showed up to cause problems, except that as soon as he opened the door he was hit with a jet of water that pushed him across the aisle and a gust of wind slammed the door shut. When Draco opened the door a second time, with his wand in hand, he heard Harry say "You're all wet Malfoy, and you look cold why don't we just warm and dry you". This was followed by a blast of fire and wind, unfortunately the fire removed Malfoy's eyebrows and the wind removed his robes – Draco still wasn't wearing much under his robes.

There weren't any further interruptions for the rest of the trip and the kids exchanged stories about their holidays. The foursome had already agreed not to talk about their training or Luna's new title of the Ravenclaw heir.

Harry had already prepared Luna for Hogwarts' welcoming message so she wouldn't be shocked when, or if, she heard that voice in her head. Harry had also explained that it seemed impossible to block out Hogwarts no matter how hard you tried.

Just as the foursome walked in Harry heard "Welcome back Lord Gryffindor" and Luna heard "Welcome Lady Ravenclaw, it is good to have three heirs in place". One of the after dinner announcements was that due to a few problems classes would start a day late, this was met with several cheers from the majority of the students. The everyone were dismissed sent to their dorms and told to get a good nights sleep.

Luna was soon snug in her bed with the curtains closed and privacy spells in place. "Hello again Hogwarts, since this is all new to me could you explain what an heir does at Hogwarts? And any help finding the Ravenclaw quarters would be greatly received", Luna thought to the castle.

"Yes milady, I would be happy to explain what an heir does and to show you to the Ravenclaw quarters. The main thing an heir does is to re-enforce the wards with their magic as Lord Gryffindor has been doing since the start of this term. Just your presence here adds to the strength of the wards as some wards are based on the presence of an heir. When you are ready go to the common room I will guide you to the hidden quarters, remember only you may enter until after you have declared yourself the heir." was the reply from the castle.

It was close midnight when Luna decided that it was safe to go back downstairs to the common room and look for the hidden area. Once downstairs it was fairly easy to locate the hidden door as it was glowing brightly, at least to Luna it was bright. Luna pushed aside the tapestry and saw the depression that looked like her ring. Placing her ring in the depression caused the door to open, inside she found a single torch lit. Once the door had closed more torches lit and she could see that the quarters were a mess, the furniture was covered with sheets and there was dust everywhere. Luna explored as Harry had told her to do and soon found the office of Ravenclaw and the library. Standing in the middle of the room Luna held her hand out with her ring pointed at the ceiling and said the words that Harry had suggested. "I, Luna Lovegood declare that I am the rightful heir of Ravenclaw and I am prepared to assume the duties and the responsibilities which that entails. I pledge this on my magic. So mote it be."

Luna was surrounded by a bright aura of Blue and Bronze. She felt a surge of magic as any and all bindings on her magic were removed. Dumbledore also felt the surge and then became that there was a lessor amount of Hogwarts' energy available to him. None of his gizmos that were left were indicating a problem so Dumbledore decided it had just been a disturbance in his sleeping pattern and rolled over to go back to sleep. Luna heard very plainly, "_**We accept you as Heir of Ravenclaw and find you worthy of that title. You will find three doors available to you, two of those doors are unlocked the third will unlock when the fourth heir is found and brought to the castle.**_"

Luna approached the first door and saw it had the crest of Hufflepuff on it and was locked. The next door had the image of a rock on it and was unlocked so Luna entered and found stairs going down. At the bottom of the stairs was a door with another ring size depression which opened when she placed her ring in the depression.

She entered a chamber that had a drawing of Hogwarts castle on the floor and four uprights with flat stones on them, one of the stones was glowing slightly. Luna approached the glowing stone and saw it had a hand shaped depression on it in addition to the Ravenclaw crest. Luna took the time to look at each of the uprights and found they each contained a house crest and a hand-print. Returning to the Ravenclaw upright she placed her hand in the depression.

Luna felt her magic flowing out slowly and noticed that a white line appeared to "flow" from the upright to the center of the drawing, and a white line was coming from both the Gryffindor and Slytherin uprights to meet in the center at another flat stone. Many runes were starting to glow on the uprights and the center stone. When all three lines intersected the center stone Luna could feel the flow of magic stop leaving her.

"_**You have done well Lady Ravenclaw. Now return to the office and see the rest of your quarters**_", was heard in Luna's mind.

Luna climbed back up the stairs and re-entered the quarters only to find many elves dusting and cleaning. An older looking elf approached and said, "Milady, I am known as Pappy. I am the head elf for Hogwarts and it is good to have you here. We will make sure your quarters are made right as soon as possible, just as we did for Lord Gryffindor when he returned."

Harry hadn't told her about that part of the discovery of Gryffindor quarters. Luna thanked Pappy and told him to take his time as she knew that the elves had other duties and she was acquainted with a couple of the elves that worked in the Ravenclaw dorms. Luna looked at the third door and it had the Gryffindor crest on it, and the standard depression. Once the door was opened she found a long hallway that was lit by torches. When she got to the end of the hallway she found another door, this one had a Lion shaped knocker on it so she knocked.

Harry had entered the Gryffindor office to look for a special book on runes when he heard a knocking sound and noticed the new doors that were now visible. The knocking seemed to come from the one with the Ravenclaw crest on it; using his ring as a key he opened the door to find Luna standing there with a big smile on her face. The two greeted each other and Luna invited Harry to come see her newly found quarters. Harry suggested he get the other two first, that only took a call to Daisy and Reggie to get Hermione and Neville there in a "pop".

With Luna leading the way the foursome returned to the new quarters. Harry wasn't surprised to see Pappy and the elves cleaning. When Pappy saw Harry and Luna he came over and bowed to them and asked how he might serve them, this caused Hermione to frown but Harry quickly replied that he didn't require any elf to serve him but would accept any elf as a friend to help him, this caused Hermione to smile again. Harry asked if Pappy would like him to call Gustus again to help with the cleaning, Pappy said help would be nice as the Hogwarts elves still had castle work to do. Reggie was sent to tell Gustus, who appeared with about 10 elves plus Reggie to help get the place cleaned and fixed up. Hermione had kept herself occupied by looking around and bouncing on her heels not being able to contain herself any longer she and went to look at the library; she had thought Harry's library was huge, but Luna's was almost twice as big. Hermione got a shock when she tried to pull a book down, then remembered that Luna had to give permission first so she asked Luna if it was okay to browse the books and Luna said go ahead. This gave Harry an idea, "Hogwarts, my three friends have my permission to use any book from my library except those intended only for the heir of Gryffindor alone." Harry and Luna heard Hogwarts accept Harry's statement and Luna made the same statement about her library.

Luna was telling Harry about her experience in the "stone room" when Harry asked to be shown what she was talking about. As the two of them went down the stairs Harry was sure Hogwarts would say he wasn't allowed, he was wrong. When they entered the Ward Stone Room Harry could see that the lines of power from Gryffindor and Slytherin were dimmer than the line from Ravenclaw. Harry once again placed his hand in the prints and now all three lines were equally bright.

"_**The wards are at 75% now, or will be once they stabilize. Thank you mi lord and Milady this is the strongest the wards have been in several centuries. The headmaster will be limited even more now, all of his monitoring wards will be removed or disabled by tomorrow morning. You will notice that there are now four doors to this room, only the heirs **__**themselves are allowed in this room. Each door leads to the heir's quarters once claimed. Lord Slytherin you may now enter your quarters if you desire.**_", Hogwarts was heard to say, as Luna returned to her chambers.

This was just what Harry had been waiting for, the chance to see Salazar Slytherin's area and to explore that area. Harry used his Slytherin ring to unlock and open the door, there were no stairs but a downward slanted hallway. As Harry made his way down torches lit for him, after he was half way that is. He came to a door, but no ring depression was seen and no handle either. Harry was at a loss as how to open the door, then he noticed the characters carved into the stone door. Those characters were made of snakes. _"open"_, Harry hissed in snake language and the door opened into a large room with many books and a large desk.

The walls were all stone and there were two doors to be seen. The first door was locked from the other side it seemed as it would not open to the ring or to snake language. The second door lead into a bedchamber done in Green and Silver. The candle holders were snakes as were the scones on the walls and ceiling. The temperature was a little chilly as compared to the other quarters Harry had been inside. Using the Gryffindor quarters as a guide Harry assumed that there had to be more to the quarters than he had found so far. There had to be another entrance so he could access the other door from that side, but where?

Harry had an idea, he called Reggie and asked if Reggie could pop to the other side of the locked door and then come back and tell him what was there. Reggie was only gone a second before he came back and said there was another room that looked like a sitting room, Reggie popped Harry into the room and Harry saw that there was a door on the opposite side. When Harry opened that door he found himself just down the hall from the potions classroom, behind a painting of Salazar Slytherin. That was strange, all the other two quarters were entered through the dorms.

Harry went back inside and closed the door, he didn't need to be found by a perfect, Professor, or Flinch. Looking around he saw a second door that when opened was the Slytherin common room – he thought as he saw Draco Malfoy on a couch with a girl. Harry quickly and quietly closed the door before he was noticed. Harry asked Reggie to see about getting the quarters cleaned up and checked out, but first he was tired and asked Reggie to pop him back to the others.

Once back in the Ravenclaw quarters Harry asked if either Pappy or Gustus knew of any elves who had been freed, against their will, or had lost their family who might like to serve another family, namely the Ravenclaw family or house? Neither knew of any such elves but would ask around the other elves, maybe one of them knew of elves in such a position.

It was 2am when the foursome decided to call it a day and return to their beds. Before he went to bed Harry asked Reggie to see that a small fire was made in the Slytherin quarters to chase some of the chill out. Harry was awaken the next morning by Gustus who said he had found four elves who needed a house to work for and asked if Master Harry would like to meet the elves. Harry said after breakfast, which appeared on a tray in his lap at a snap of Gustus' fingers. "It is past time for breakfast so I brought you this", Gustus said.

The foursome met up in the Gryffindor quarters and Gustus introduced the four elves he had found. The elves were in poor shape, their color was off, their clothes (if you could call them that) were threadbare, and they were very dirty. One of the female elves was brave enough to step forward and say "I is called Misty mi lord and lady. We is without a house to serve since our master cast us out. We would accept any punishment if you would allow us to serve you."

Luna was the first to speak and tell the elves that there would be no punishment in her house, everyone made mistakes. "If you truly want to work for me then it would be as employees not slaves. You will receive a salary that is fair and will wear clothes that I provide the material for and you make, or have made. But first, we need to get you four fed and cleaned up. Then we will talk about the other things", Luna continued, and Hermione smiled brightly at hearing Luna say that.

"But mistress we must be punished, we were cast out because we did keep the river from ruining master's crops", Misty replied.

"Then you punishment is to be fed and cleaned up before you are allowed to work for me", was Luna's reply with a firm voice.

The four very surprised elves bowed and left with Gustus, where he took them wasn't known but an hour later they were back looking clean and dressed in simple tea towels. Luna looked at them and said that the towels would never do, she asked Hermione if she could transfigure them into something better. Hermione looked the elves over and waved her wand. The girls now wore a simple linen shift with the Ravenclaw crest on the breast, the guys were wearing tunics with the Ravenclaw crest. The elves were astonished, "You have given us clothes, we are free again." Misty said as she started crying. Gustus jumped in and told them that these weren't clothes but uniforms that the elves of Ravenclaw wore to show who they belonged to and who they served. The crying stopped.

"Misty, Gustus speaks the truth. But these are just temporary, I ask that you and I talk about what you would like to wear and with the help of my human friends we will find someone to make the new uniforms. Now quit all that bowing and come sit here with me and let us talk about what needs to be done", Luna said as she sat down on the floor.

The elves were scared, never before had a witch or wizard asked them to sit except to punish them. Misty was the first to gain her courage and to sit with Luna, followed shortly by the other three. The three Gryffindors left them to talk and went to the library to talk and study.

"Now Misty I like the dresses you are wearing but maybe you have an idea of something better you would like, if so just tell me. While you are thinking about that here is what I offer:

1) You will be paid a silver sickle per week each

2) You will each have two days off per month

3) You are to wear the uniforms we decide on and you must be neat and clean and proud

4) There is to be no punishing yourself for mistakes, instead you are to come to me and tell me about it and together we will try and fix it

5) Misty will, if willing, serve as my personal elf and supervise the rest

6) You will work closely with the elves from Harry's staff

Now if any of this isn't what you want let me know and we will talk about it", Luna explained.

The elves just sat there in wonderment, they had never heard of any elf being treated like this – except the ones at House of Potter. The four of them talked amongst themselves for a few minutes then Misty spoke.

"Mistress we is agreeing, the boys ask if maybe they can have pants. We is not hearing of elves being treated as this except those that serve the House of Potter. We is wondering why Mistress is so kind to us since she be knowing what we did to be cast out", Misty replied.

Luna explained that she got the idea from the way Harry treated his elves and that it made sense to her. She didn't want slaves she wanted friends who would help her keep her place clean and well functioning. Luna asked if any of them had any special talents such as sewing, cooking, or potions. Misty admitted that she loved to sew and that the other female could cook very well.

"Then since we are in agreement, **I, Luna Lovegood, as Heir of Ravenclaw accept these elves into my house and bind them to me until such time as one of us decides to end that binding**", Luna said. The elves glowed once again and their clothes changes color to show both Blue and Bronze. The coloring of the elves improved almost instantly and they looked much healthier. Luna lead the four through the tunnel to the Ravenclaw quarters and asked them to see what they could do with the place. Luna called for a Hogwarts elf and asked that Pappy come to see her. Pappy appeared a few second later and Luna told him the new elves were hers and asked if he could arrange for them to have access to the kitchens and maybe some training in the way the house elves spoke and acted at Hogwarts.

**~o~o~o~**

Albus Dumbledore awoke and realized that something was very different about Hogwarts, he had been feeling distant from the wards but now they felt almost completely out of his reach and control. Dumbledore also felt weaker, he tried to connect with Hogwarts but couldn't draw on her magic like he used to be able to do. Dumbledore looked and his morning tea was where it was supposed to be, his robes were laid out as usual, and the day looked clear and bright outside his window. Everything looked as it should to Dumbledore,maybe he thought to himself he was just coming down with a slight illness, a trip up to see Poppy and a pepper up potion might just do the trick.

Prof. Flitwick awoke to find his favorite tea sitting by his bed, this wasn't usual, and a set of robes laid out. He got up and and the magic around him seemed stronger, more attuned to him. When he went to check on his eagles, he was sure he was mistaken, but the picture of Rowena Ravenclaw seemed to be smiling more than he remembered.

Prof. McGonagall awoke to find her morning tea beside her bed and her robes laid out, the robes were a surprise as she usually chose her own. As Dumbledore's assistant she was more attuned to the wards and magic of the castle than the other Professors and they felt different, again. She went to check on her lions and it seemed that the picture of Godric Gryffindor was smiling a little this morning.

Prof. Sprout awoke to find fresh flowers by her bed and a cup of her favorite tea. Her robes were laid out also, she too usually pick out her robes each morning. She went to check on her badgers and found everything in order, except there were several sets of fresh flowers about the common room.

Severus Snape was awoken by the noise coming from his "snake den" and went to see what was the cause, someone was going to get a real disappointment this early in the morning. He entered the common room of Slytherin to find his godson being cornered by some of the other students. "What is the meaning of this uproar?" Snape shouted.

Snape was soon told that Draco had tried to hex one of the girls for saying he "didn't measure up", but his spell missed and hit a few of the other students and a prefect had to reverse the spell. Snape pinched his nose and shook his head, what a way to start his day. Draco received a detention for his misuse of magic.

Prof. Trelawney woke up to find all the incense was gone from her chambers, there was no tea by her bedside, and all of her bright robes were gone from her wardrobe.

Ginny Weasley woke up and couldn't remember going to bed in her clothes. The last thing she remembered was writing in her diary, now she woke up with blood on her hands and her robes dirty.

**~o~o~o~**

All of the Gryffindors noticed that Harry, Hermione, and Neville were missing at breakfast and the roommates said they were still asleep when they came down for breakfast. One or two of the Ravenclaw students noticed that Luna Lovegood was missing, and her roommates said she was still asleep. After the morning meal Dumbledore announced that the students were free for the day but to keep to the grounds and to try and remain quiet as the teachers would be a meeting most of the morning and didn't need to be disturbed.

Up in the private quarters Harry finally told the others about finding the Slytherin quarters but that the entrance was by the potions classroom and he did think it would be wise to go down there right now. He also explained to his friends what he had seen as to Malfoy and some girl. Both Hermione and Luna paled and said they didn't even want to think about Malfoy in that way, or situation. The foursome soon decided to go outside and do some flying, with Hermione and Neville would help Luna gain some experience and give her tips.

Albus called the teacher's meeting to order and told the staff about the required changes to be made to Hogwarts according to the Board of Governors due to the ICW's inspection. The fact that there would be observers in three classes was a shock to those three instructors. Dumbledore also announced that another student had been found petrified and another message saying for "enemies of the heir beware" had been left. He was glad that the board wasn't aware of these petrified students yet, as he was sure they would close the school. He then asked for suggestion as to how to go about dealing with the new "marching orders" from the board and without upsetting or disrupting the students.

The question was a bit of a moot point when a well timed owl dropped a letter into the startled Headmaster's lap. The,well timed, letter was from Augusta Longbottom and it stated exactly what the board wanted done in minute detail and instructed that the ICW report be posted for all the students to see and read along with the board's instructions. Could this day get much worse?

* * *

**A/N: Well we now have access to three private quarters and the wards are up to 75%. Not sure what to do about Hufflepuff yet but I have an idea. Harry will acquire one or two elves to work in the Slytherin quarters soon. Ginny is getting more worried about what is happening to her and the loss of time.**

**Please be kind and comment**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hogwarts Year 2**

**Chapter 12**

At dinner that night most of the conversation revolved around the report from the ICW and the required changes from the Hogwarts Board of Governors. The major consensus was that the changes were to be too long in coming. The only ones upset, really, were the Slytherins as they were losing their advantage, Prof. Snape. Even the Slytherins thought that getting rid of Lockhart was a good idea and nobody would complain about the loss of incense in Divination, maybe now they would be able to breathe. It didn't surprise anyone that McGonagall and Flitwick got high marks, they were the most respected instructors in the school.

One thing did bother the sixth years and that was that their scores on their OWLs might not hold up and they might have to retake them, nobody wanted to retake their OWLs as they were very stressful. The seventh years wondered about NEWTs also. Harry and Hermione were not too worried about the OWLs standards at Hogwarts since they would be taking their OWLs that summer at Peaks and were pretty sure they would pass them.

Ginny Weasley had thought about talking to Lockhart about her loss of time, but after reading the notices from the ICW and Board she decided to speak with Hermione first. During supper she asked Hermione if they could get together later and talk, it was personal and private and she needed help; Hermione agreed to meet her in the library. She told Harry and Neville that she needed to meet with Ginny and would join them later as everyone was leaving the Great Hall.

Ginny and Hermione sat off to themselves in the library while Ginny told Hermione about her concerns and her loosing track of time. When Ginny mentioned waking up and finding blood on her hands, Hermione got suspicious that something wasn't right. Hermione took a chance and placed a tracking charm on Ginny so they could monitor her around the castle. Hermione told Ginny that she needed to do some thinking and would see what she could find out and get back to her.

Meanwhile, Harry, Neville, and Luna had made their way to the private quarters and were going over the day's events and revelations. Harry remembered how dirty the Slytherin quarters had been and called Reggie. He asked Reggie to see about getting at least one elf to take care of those quarters and to make sure there wasn't anything harmful stored there. Harry explained that is wasn't that he didn't trust Reggie but wanted to make sure Reggie wasn't overworked and had time to watch his back, just in case Dobby showed up again and tried to kill ,um sorry protect, him again, Reggie said he would make sure that Harry's back was covered.

"_**Lord Gryffindor, Slytherin, there is something I have noticed that you and Lady Ravenclaw need to know. I have just detected a concentrated area of very dark magic and it is in a place I wasn't aware of until now. There is a chamber below the castle that I wasn't aware of, I can not determine where the entrance is located. Also, your friend Hermione Granger has just placed a tracking charm on another student and you should know that I have blocked the same charm that the Headmaster placed on you"**_, Harry heard Hogwarts say in his mind.

Harry looked at Luna and she had that expression on her face he had seen before when Hogwarts spoke to her. Luna just nodded at Harry. Harry called Daisy and asked her to find Hermione and as soon as it was safe to bring her directly to the quarters. Harry turned to Neville and told him what Hogwarts had just said to Luna and himself.

It was only a few minutes later when Hermione was "popped" into the private chambers by Daisy. Hermione wrestled with herself as to whether or not to tell Harry and the others what she and Ginny had discussed. That decision was made when Harry asked why she had cast a tracking charm on a student. Hermione spoke out loud, "Hogwarts as you know I placed a tracking charm on Ginny Weasley, please could you keep an eye on her. I think she may be involved with the petrifying of some of the students".

Hermione then explained what she and Ginny had talked about and that maybe it might be a good idea to check to see if Ginny was possessed or being controlled by someone other than herself. Harry, Neville, and Luna agreed that it might be a good idea, then Luna asked how they could do that. Hermione explained that they had learned how last year and it had been very useful. Luna wanted to know how to do that also; Neville volunteered to have the Imperio curse placed on him by Harry so Hermione could demonstrate the detection spell.

When Harry cast the spell Luna saw the effects even before Hermione cast the detection spell. Luna described it as a second aura around Neville on top of his own aura. Harry ended the spell and the three Gryffindors asked how Luna had seen that. Luna explained that she had always been able to see auras and she noticed the changes in Neville's as soon as Harry cast the spell. Now she wanted to see how the spell felt and asked Neville to cast it on her, Neville said he couldn't do that to her. Luna explained that she trusted all three of them and knew they wouldn't do anything to harm her, or in this case have her do anything out of line.

Hermione said she would try to cast the spell but didn't know if she could. When Hermione cast the spell and told Luna to jump onto a chair Luna asked why, she would just get the chair dirty. The three Gryffindor's just looked at Luna and then each other. Harry asked if he could try the spell and Luna said he could, the result was Luna seemed to struggle before she refused to do as Harry suggested, kiss Hermione.

"Maybe we aren't strong enough to cast that spell", Hermione said. But Luna said she had to struggle to resist Harry's suggestion so he was strong enough, Hermione's was just easier to resist. Luna then suggested they try the spell on each other to see if it was just her or what. Luna tried on Neville first, after he agreed, and nothing. Hermione tried and Neville walked over and kissed Luna on the cheek, Luna blushed brightly. Harry tried and Neville kissed Hermione on the cheek. It seemed that Neville couldn't resist the suggestions and apologized for his actions, both girls said they didn't mind, but Luna blushed again.

The foursome each tried the spell on one another and Harry and Luna were the only ones of the four that could resisted the spell – and Harry resisted much easier each time. They all had a laugh when Hermione kissed Harry and Harry blushed. "It would seem that none of us can resist that spell except Harry and Luna. And even Luna had a hard time resisting Harry", Hermione concluded. Luna later told Hermione she wouldn't have minded if the spell had worked on her and she had kissed Neville, both girls giggled about that.

Since it was getting late the kids decided that it was time to go to bed and get some sleep. Misty took Luna to her room, Daisy took care of Hermione, and Reggie made sure Harry and Neville got back okay. The only problem was Ron was only pretending to be asleep and saw the two boys just appear in their dorm. What nobody saw was Harry give Reggie a special mission to be carried out that night, one which would have far reaching consequences that year.

The next morning there was much excitement in the Great Hall, a message had appeared overnight on the wall and it had the staff and the students concerned and confused. Mr. Filch had tried to remove the message but to no avail, next Dumbledore tried to remove it but had no luck either. The message just would not be removed by either manual or magical means.

**BEWARE THE FALSE HEIR, HE SEEKS TO CLOSE HOGWARTS**

"Albus, what can this mean? Are there two heirs of Slytherin?", McGonagall asked. Dumbledore didn't have an answer for that question, just like he didn't have any idea who the heir was who had started this mess.

Harry had a smirk on his face and Hermione knew he was up to something; she just didn't know what, but intended to find out as quick as possible. Their first class that day was Transfiguration and once again Harry, Hermione, and Neville excelled and were asked to help the other students. Neville ended up having to help Ron and it was then that Ron asked, again, where Neville and Harry had been and admitted to seeing them return last night. Neville never answered the question, but told Ron to concentrate on learning the current transfiguration lesson.

Hermione made sure that she worked with Parvati Patil, since she was Hermione's roommate along with Lavender Brown. Parvati had the wand movement wrong and once Hermione showed her the correct way had few problems doing the current transfiguration. Lavender, on the other hand just couldn't get it right. Harry worked with a couple of the boys from the other house, since they weren't Slytherin's – the only time he had to deal with that house was in Potions

It was during their extra Transfiguration session that Hermione got the chance to ask Harry what he was up to and if he was responsible for the message in the Great Hall. Harry just grinned and said the message would be gone by lunch. Harry was the one to ask Prof. McGonagall if an animagus could do magic while in animal form, she said she didn't know it had never come up before. Hermione asked if the Professor would mind trying from her form; McGonagall figured that this was an advanced lesson and said she would try the experiment.

The first thing McGonagall did was to magically lock the door to the classroom. She transformed into her cat form and tried to do a simple spell, it didn't work. After she had changed back, Hermione asked if maybe it required that the person be holding their wand when they changed. McGonagall usually didn't hold her wand when changing so she tried it that way; the simple spell worked, she was able to levitate a book off her desk. McGonagall then tried more advanced spells and the majority of them worked. After she had changed back she awarded Hermione 10 points for her suggestion and discovery. _"I will have to practice this in private, this is something new. Maybe, if this works out, I can write it up and present it to my favorite Transfiguration publication."_, the Professor thought to herself with a smile.

When the foursome arrived at lunch, the message was still on the wall in the Great Hall, Hermione just looked at Harry who smiled. Shortly after the food appeared Harry nudged Hermione and then nodded towards the message. The message was slowly fading out, only to be replaced by another. **THE REAL Slytherin HEIR HAS RETURNED** was the new message. Now more people were starting to notice the message, including a few of the professors. When Hermione looked at Harry again he just smiled again and mouthed "later".

The foursome met again that night where Hermione wasn't to be put off any longer. Harry explained that he had asked Reggie to place the message and since it was elf magic only an elf could do anything with it; not Dumbledore or Filch or any of the professors could remove it, but any elf should have been able to remove or change it. Harry surprised everyone when he suddenly changed his arms into wings, fiery red wings with gold tips. Harry held the transformation for several minutes then changed back.

Hermione just shook her head and said they had been told not to do that without permission; Harry told her he needed the practice and it was easier each time to transform. "After all, you know the counter so there was no danger", was Harry's next statement. Luna startled them all by asking if Harry had tried his other form yet. Three sets of eyes were suddenly focused on Luna.

What other form?" asked Hermione.

"Why his snake form, after all the Phoenix is for the Gryffindor heir, so there must be a snake for Slytherin", was Luna's reply as she too sprouted wings in place of her arms.

After a few minutes Luna asked for some help as she couldn't get one arm to change back to normal. Harry flicked his wand and Luna was completely Luna again. "Thanks Harry; Transfiguration takes a lot of concentration and I guess I'm too tired to concentrate right now", Luna said as she wiggled her fingers.

"Hermione, look at this potion and tell me you can understand it and brew it for me. If you can then I'll be a step closer to helping Fawkes as I promised", Harry said as he showed Hermione the potion in one of the books from the Slytherin library. Hermione looked at the potion and said it was a very involved potion and it would take several days to completely brew it, but she would need some help as it had to be stirred often and at odd times up until the last four hours and then it needed stirring every 30 minutes.

Neville had been looking at the crest on the Hufflepuff door and suddenly jumped back as the badger on the crest moved. Neville called the others over and sure enough the badger would move whenever Neville touched the badger on the crest. This gave Hermione an idea and she asked Luna to do the same thing to the Ravenclaw crest, no reaction was forthcoming. But, when Hermione stroked the Eagle it moved, when she tried the badger it didn't do anything.

"Well that was interesting. I wonder why the badger responds to Neville and not to anyone else; but the eagle responds to me and not to Luna who is the heir?" Hermione asked. It was a few minutes later when Luna asked if the sorting hat had tried to put Hermione in Ravenclaw, and Neville in Hufflepuff? Both agreed that had happened, so maybe this reaction showed that the two of them had a connection to another house than the one they were assigned.

Since it was almost Easter break they decided it was best to wait and ask some of the adults about this moving crest thing. Misty popped in and reminded Luna that she had an exam the next day and needed to get some rest. As Misty took Luna to her room the three Gryffindors went to their own dorm to get some rest. Hermione made it to her bed without any problem, Harry and Neville weren't as lucky.

When the two boys entered their dorm room there was Ron sitting on his bed waiting. He didn't say anything just frowned at them and laid down in his bed. Harry and Neville looked at each other, they both knew this could mean trouble if Ron got too mouthy around the wrong people, namely Dumbledore or Percy – only time would tell.

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**A/N: Okay the next chapter will deal with Easter break, I hope. Just to let you know the final chapter for this book has already been written, it just popped into my head and demanded to be done right then. Now the hard part is up to you, tell me what you think of this chapter. Hopefully I have raised a few questions in your minds, if not then I failed to do what I set out to do. **

**Please be kind and comment**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hogwarts Year 2**

Chapter 13

It was finally Easter break, strange how their breaks matched up with muggle religious holidays, and this time it would be a week long. The train ride home offered very little excitement, except Luna getting stuck with a beak for a nose for a few minutes. Hermione quickly took care of that little problem for her. The kids were met at the station by their families and soon everyone was on their way home, with plans already made for them to get together later.

Once back at Potter Manor, Harry informed on what had been going on at school. Harry, Sirius, and Remus spent an hour in the dungeon while Harry showed them how far he had come on his transformation into a Phoenix – both adults were surprised. Harry asked if they had worked with Luna as she too had been able to change forms, Sirius and Remus said they had not. That made things seem strange, how had Luna learned to do the transformation?

It was after lunch the next day when everyone showed up at the manor, Hermione with both of her parents, Luna by herself, and Neville with Augusta. After everyone had arrived and talked for a little while the four kids plus Sirius, Remus, and Lucy went downstairs to work on their transformations. The first thing the adults did was ask Luna how she had managed to learn to transformation into an animal. It seemed that Luna's mother had tried to learn it before her death and Luna had watched her, and had slipped some of the potion her mother had made. Lucy gave Luna one of her potions and they all watched as Luna just drifted off. It wasn't long before Luna changed into an eagle for a few minutes and then back to herself. Luna followed the same trend in that she woke up and went right to sleep.

While Luna slept Lucy mentioned that they needed another adult to watch over Luna, but Remus told her that now that Luna had her form that all that was needed was for someone to watch while he instructed them and that Lucy should watch the girls as Sirius watched the boys. The only problem that Remus could think of was that once they mastered the change fully the first time the kids changed they might end up without clothes when they changed back, this had happened to Sirius and the others when they did the first full transformations. Lucy said she could do that and if the girls did come back naked then she could just conjure them clothes, but they did need to put up a barrier to preserve modesty for everyone.

When Luna woke up again they started the lessons. Remus explained again about the chance of ending up nude and the precautions they would have to take. All the kids blushed slightly at hearing this said they still wanted to try as a group. Remus talked for about an hour then told them to try and change a single part of their bodies to the animal form. Harry being Harry just changed both arms into wings, as did Luna. Hermione changed her left arm into a wing and Neville changed his left arm into a paw, which looked funny since the paw was only about six inches long. Remus had everyone change back and then change a different part until they had changed each limb into their animal form. Now it was time to change their heads, and this was where the first challenge came into play as they had to retain their "human" mind to be able to change back.

Harry once again did more than was asked, he changed into his full phoenix form. Sirius asked if Harry could understand him and was answered by a nod of Harry's head, so Sirius told Harry to hold his form until they could put up the barrier in case he came back nude. Harry just nodded and blazed slightly – as if he was blushing. Now the three others looked funny with an animal head on a human body, that was until Luna fully transformed into her eagle form and tried to walk over to Harry, but fell over. _"I don't know how to walk in this shape"_, Luna thought. But Harry heard her also and replied, _"Hey, I heard that Luna and I can't walk either. I wonder why we can hear each other?" "Well it could be that we are both a type of bird"_, Luna replied.

"_That would explain why I can hear both of you"_ Hermione interjected, and both Harry and Luna looked at Hermione sitting there with an owl's head on her body.

Remus told Hermione and Neville to change back but for Harry and Luna to remain in their forms, both birds just nodded their heads. Hermione changed back but still had a beak and Neville still had his nose in animal form. Both of them laughed at each other before changing back to animal heads and trying again. It took Neville three tries to make the change correctly, but Hermione accomplish it after the second time. Remus had the two keep changing back and forth until they could do it without problems.

"Now Hermione and Neville, I want you to change your bodies only after you have changed your heads. Otherwise you might just fall over due to the weight of your heads on your animal bodies", Remus told them.

Neville changed his head again and had a little trouble changing the rest of him. Hermione had trouble at first then just changed completely, and this seemed to surprise her seeing wings and clawed feet on herself. "Good work Hermione" was heard from all the adults. Neville finally made the complete change, but he had an easier time walking since he had four legs to keep him steady instead of two like his friends. Now it was time to change back so the barrier was erected, a simple curtain between two areas.

Lucy walked over to Hermione and Luna and bent down to speak with them; "Now I want you two to get on my arms so I can carry you behind the curtain, but watch the claws and don't scratch me up." Both girls climbed on to Lucy's arms carefully and were taken behind the curtain. Harry and Neville were told to try and change back by Sirius and both started to change. Neville came back nude with his animal head, Harry was nude but had wings. Remus had them change back into their animal forms and do it again until they were whole, then he and Sirius would provide clothes.

On the other side of the curtain Hermione changed but fell over when her feet and legs didn't change, and she was flat-chested with feathers in that area. Luna had the same problem as Harry, nude but with wings. Since they heard Remus telling the boys what to do both girls started changing multiple times until they were back to normal, just nude. Once all four kids were back to normal Remus told them to keep trying until they were comfortable with the changes before worrying about clothes and that it might take a while to get the hang of it. The kids kept practicing until suppertime. Lucy conjured clothes for both girls. Harry just took care of that himself while Sirius made clothes for Neville.

After supper Luna asked if she could talk with Remus and Lucy about a problem. The three of them moved over to a different area of the lounge to speak. Luna told them that she had seen two forms this time when she took Lucy's potion and the other was an animal comfortable in the water and wondered if this was possible. Remus explained that Harry had two forms and it was possible, just unusual since even one form was hard for most people. Lucy said that she would be willing to work with Luna, but if Luna got stuck she would have to get Remus to help and that meant that he would see Luna in all her glory. Remus commented that they could work around that by having Luna face away from him so all he saw was her backside.. Luna blushed and said it it happened it happened.

The rest of the evening was spent playing games and just spending time together, watching a movie. Augusta went home leaving word that Neville could spend the night, but she wanted him home a full day before they went back to school. The following morning the topic of conversation was of course the animagi transformations, until Luna asked if anyone had an idea who was the Hufflepuff heir. Harry said he had been told that the heir was present at Hogwarts just not who it was yet. After breakfast the kids went flying. Harry and Hermione worked with the other two to help them improve their skills.

When they all tired of flying and practice they decided to land and call their elementals since they didn't have much chance to do so at school. All four elementals were called and everyone sat around talking with them. Luna was asked to allow the others to dismiss her elemental if the need arose,allowing any of them to dismiss the others elemental. Harry even showed his elementals his phoenix form, which qualified as both fire and air, this seemed to amuse Firebeard and Windford.

The biggest surprise was when Fawkes showed up and landed beside Harry. Fawkes offered to show Harry how to fly and some of the special feats a phoenix could preform – like flashing somewhere. By lunch time Harry had learned enough to walk without falling over and how to take off but landings were still a little rough. When they were called to lunch Harry hid in some bushes to change back and cover himself before going inside.

After lunch Remus, Sirius, and Lucy took the foursome outside to work on their forms. "What you four need to do is practice changing forms. The trick to keeping your clothes is to remember what you were wearing when you changed and seeing that same form with clothes on when you change back.

"Now we are going to call up some tents for you work in, girls I will ask you to face the rear of the tent when you change into your normal form since I will be going between the tents. That way all I will see is your backsides", Remus explained.

It took Harry three tries to make the change from bird to human and still have clothes, Neville had a more difficult time doing that. In the girls tent, Hermione took four tries before getting it together and changing back with clothes, Luna took six before getting it right. After talking with Neville, Remus and Sirius found out what the problem was and told him how to correct it; they ended up making a full length mirror for Neville to look at so he saw his clothes and how he appeared before transforming. Neville finally got the idea.

When all four were comfortable changing forms and retaining their clothes the tents were dismissed and the kids spent time in their animal forms to learn how to move. Hedwig showed up and taught the girls how to walk and fly, the girls had a few bad landings but were unhurt – except for their pride. Neville was soon running around chasing and being chased by Sirius in animal form. Harry, he was practicing his landings and was soon gliding about in the air and landing in the trees without problem. Sirius did get a surprise when Neville just ran up a tree to escape from the big dog chasing him. The kids spent all afternoon practicing with Fawkes showed back up to work with Harry some more.

By suppertime all four were tired and hungry. Lucy was slightly disappointed that she was not able to do the transformation like Sirius, but was happy for everyone else. Hermione showed her parents what they had been working on and needless to say Dan and Emma were amazed to see their daughter change into an owl and back to a human in front of them. When the others were asked to show their forms to Dan and Emma, that was where the surprises started.

Everyone watched as Harry changed into a Phoenix and back, then Neville changed into his Pine Martin and back, next Luna showed her eagle form; Harry surprised everyone when he went into his snake form and back, but when Luna changed a second time it wasn't into an eagle – it was an otter. Between the four of them they had three avian forms, two mammals, and a reptile. The questions were now flying, especially about Luna's second form as nobody had seen it previously. Luna explained that since she was the Ravenclaw heir that explained her eagle, but since she was a water elementalist she needed a water form, hence the otter. She went on to explain that it had been easy, all she had to do was picture the form in her mind to decide which one to change in to, but it didn't work with anything except those two forms.

Luna's explanation caused Sirius to wonder if he could have more than one form, the next thing he knew he was in animal form but not his usual grim. He was an Irish Setter, then a Beagle. These two forms were new and could be very interesting, and useful. Remus was the most surprised since this was an unknown to him, and the biggest surprise was that Sirius could do some wand-less magic in any of his forms. Hermione and Neville found they could do almost all of the wand-less spells they knew in animal form, Harry only did magic in his Phoenix form; Luna knew very little wand-less magic and so was very limited in either of her forms, until she learned more wand-less spells.

The rest of the break was spent teaching Luna material beyond her year and getting her caught up on what was expected this year. The four also spent some time working on their offensive and defensive spells, flying, and getting better acquainted with their animal forms. All in all a very exciting and beneficial break, even if Neville, Hermione, and Luna had to leave early to spend time with their families before returning to Hogwarts.

All four, along with their families, met up at the train station an hour and a half before the scheduled departure. Augusta and Mr. Lovegood made it plain that as soon as school was over they wanted to see all the forms the others were able to assume, and that their kids were going to Peaks that summer if at all possible. Once the train had pulled out of the station Hermione commented that it was too bad none of them could assume an insect form as then they could go unnoticed around school if it was a small form. The four of them soon pulled out books to study; Harry was reading about runes, Hermione was looking at animagi information, Neville had a Herbology book, and Luna was reading the latest issue of the Quibbler that came out the next day.

Ginny and the twins wandered in about half way to Hogwarts and caught up on what had gone on during the break, of course nothing was mentioned about animagi forms. Harry noticed a strange smell and it was coming from Ginny, but he couldn't tell what it was – just that it smelled familiar somehow. The twins showed a new invention they had come up with, at least it was new to them. Hermione told them that it was something the muggles already thought of, a wand that turned into flowers when used a certain way. But where the muggle version just sported flowers from the end, the one the twins made turned into a bunch of flowers completely.

Draco Malfoy made his usual appearance but thought better when he saw so many wands aimed at him, especially from the two older more experienced students. Leaving without saying much at all. Everyone in the compartment laughed after he left. Only small amount was bought from the cart lady as they had brought a nice meal with them provided by the Potter kitchens. The meal was shared with everyone in the compartment.

The four met up after lights out in the Ravenclaw room where Luna called her water elemental and told everyone she had come up with a name that the elemental liked, Ariel from the Little Mermaid story some muggles had made into a film. Everyone thought it was a fitting name and welcomed Ariel to the group with the new name. They talked for about an hour and then went back to bed, unobserved.

A week later, during McGonagall's special session, Hermione told the professor that they had learned something that the professor might want to know. It was possible for a person to have more than one animal form, and that she might want to try. McGonagall was cautious at first until she was told it had been confirmed by Remus Lupin using Sirius as a test subject. Hermione explained that all it took was being able to form the image in her mind before willing the change, the professor had to try it. McGonagall focused within for a few seconds then changed into a Panther; the change surprised her so much that she lost focus and changed back almost as fast, but at least she didn't forget her clothes. The five talked about this new information then the professor decided to ask Prof. Flitwick to join them; he too was surprised and congratulated the four for their discovery. Both professors agreed that it was too bad they couldn't award points for this, but the reason would show up in the book of awards and punishments. It was Harry who suggested that McGonagall's second form be kept a secret from the ministry, after all they knew about her Tabby cat form and two forms were very unusual – no need to draw attention. Both professors agreed that it would only cause McGonagall problems, so a secret it would remain.

The kids continued to practice their animal forms every chance they got with Fawkes continuing to help Harry and train him in matters related to a phoenix and the powers it had. Within a couple of weeks the kids would sneak out to the forest and assume their animal forms on the weekends. Neville finally commented that the other three could just change forms and fly out but he had to wait until he was hidden in the forest to change. Luna told him to change while they were in the Ravenclaw sitting room; once he changed she changed and picked him up gently in her talons and carried him out to the forest, with Harry and Hermione behind her. Once inside the forest she landed and put him down so he could either run around or change back.

"That was a new experience, but I liked it once I got used to it. Now we can all come outside and not have to sneak around as much or worry about getting caught or followed" Neville commented.

"I've been doing that for several days now" Luna explained. Everyone got a laugh out of that and wondered why they hadn't thought of it sooner. It might even be possible for Hermione to carry Neville in animal form, but nobody wanted anything to do with carrying Harry in his snake form!

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**A/N: I noticed in the last chapter I goofed and had Luna change but didn't give a reason for her to know how, now that is fixed. **

**Please be kind and comment**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hogwarts Year 2**

Chapter 14

Three weeks into the new session and a Slytherin was found petrified. The fact that it was a Slytherin itself confused Dumbledore why would Salazar's heir attack one of his own and the student was not a muggle-born either. After all the last time something like this had happened only muggle-born were the targets and Slytherin had been exempt from attack. The news quickly spread all through the school that not even the pure-bloods were free from attack; this really put Draco in a bind since he had been saying some muggle-born would be next.

Harry had taken to listening at the Slytherin porthole or doorway as much as he could, but had not heard anything that let him know who might be responsible for the attacks. The only thing Harry had learned so far was that Draco wasn't well liked even by his own house. It appeared that only three people cared anything about being close to him, Crabbe, Goyle, and ,Draco's current girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson even Snape seemed to keep his distance from the pampas student . It was after watching Draco paw all over Pansy one night in the common room of Slytherin that Harry got a message from Hogwarts herself, _"Lord Gryffindor/Slytherin I have found the last heir, but would not suggest confronting her at this time as she seems most disturbed by the goings on within the castle. She appears to be powerful, but still has the binding of youth upon her magic. It might be possible to remove those bindings with a potion that was used and created by Godric Gryffindor, the instructions are in his personal writings."_

Harry spent the next couple of days searching for the potion instructions. The potion itself was very simple but the spell that went along with it wasn't so simple. The spell had to be cast just as the subject drank the potion, and only the heir could cast it with the help of Hogwarts power. Harry felt that doing this would be a little difficult to do in front of everyone in the great hall especially since that was the only place he could think of to slip her the potion, even if he knew which girl to give it too. Harry read through all the instructions again and noticed a note that said if he added a part of the mascot it would only affect an heirof that house. So, if he added hair from a badger then it would not affect the other girls, or guys, of Hufflepuff. Harry also noticed that the potion was stable for up to six months if properly preserved or stored and it only took a few drops in a glass to do the trick.

Harry got the potion brewed without any problem, since it was so simple, and then cornered Luna to talk about what was going to happen. Harry explained what Hogwarts had told him and what he planned to do, but he needed Luna to keep it to herself when the change took place and not mention the change in the girl's aura to anyone. Luna agreed and told Harry that Hogwarts had told her also about finding the final heir and that only Gryffindor had the potion instructions. Luna asked how Harry was going to be able to cast the spell without everyone noticing him. Harry sighed,that,he didn't know yet.

A few days later Harry came up with the idea of using his cloak of invisibility to hide himself while casting the spell. He would have to do this on a day when there were no classes and might have to cast the spell more than once since everyone might not be there at the same time during breakfast. A Sunday morning Harry felt would be his best chance. The following Sunday Harry told his roommates that he was going to sleep in a while and would catch up later. As soon as the others were gone Harry changed into his Phoenix form and flashed to a hidden area close to the great hall, he had made a deal with Pappy the night before to add the potion to only the Hufflepuff juice pitchers that morning.

Harry donned his cloak and eased into the great hall making his way to the rune stone so as to be able to tap into Hogwarts power when needed. Harry was surprised that it seemed that all the Hufflepuff House were down at the same time; this was a good thing, right? Harry gathered his thoughts and started the long complex spell; just as he finished the spell he saw several people glow briefly as their core bindings were released. But one girl glowed differently then the rest, she glowed with the colors of Hufflepuff, yellow and black, in addition to her normal aura. Harry made note of this girl, it was someone he had met before, someone who might be considered a friend hopefully some day soon.

Harry made his way out of the hall and back to his hiding place to remove the cloak. Once the cloak was safely stored in his pocket he went into the hall to eat breakfast. Luna soon came over to say hello and just smiled and nodded at Harry. Harry asked if he had missed anything and Hermione told him nothing had happened or been said that morning. The four met up outside and made their way towards the forest and Hagrid's hut to visit. Once inside Hagrid's they were talking about the changes in the school. It turned out the ICW representative from France was the one to sit in on potions; it made a big difference, now Snape taught potions instead of just writing on the board or assuming everyone understood the book.

In DADA there had been several different people sitting in on the classes, mostly members of the DMLE. Harry even stopped doing pranks on Prof. Lockhart since they no longer used his books and were using DMLE approved books. Hagrid said he had heard that a few of the sixth and seventh years were complaining that the spells were too hard to do and that the "class sitters" had said they were simple spells everyone should know, like medium shields and such. The four only stayed about two hours and then as soon as they were out of sight headed straight into the forest to play in their animal forms.

Everyone was having a good time, Neville had his Earth elemental create a large hole and Luna's Water elemental filled it with water so Luna could play as an Otter. In addition to playing the four practiced spells in animal form, Harry and Hermione were much better of course due to their more advanced training. Neville was surprised when Luna cast a spell he couldn't as she summoned items laying around the area. The big shock was when Harry changed into his snake form, nobody wanted to play with him so he just slithered out into the woods by himself to explore. While out by himself he found that he was getting hungry and lucked upon a couple of rabbits, which became lunch since all it took was one bite to dispatch them.

Harry returned to the area where he had left his friends and changed back into human form. The rest joined him in that form and Hermione complained about being hungry. Harry just said he wasn't since he found lunch in the forest and felt very full, he could find room for some pudding if they had it. Luna called Misty and asked her to bring four bowls of pudding from the castle for the four friends. Neville admitted he had eaten also, as did Luna. Hermione was the only one who had not looked for or found food in her animal form. She changed and went looking for food, she soon returned and said squirrel was very tasty in her animal form but it made her ill to think about it in human form. The four of them returned to the castle about an hour before supper.

As soon as they were close to the castle they saw several of the Hufflepuff girls practicing spell work and a few of them seemed to be having trouble with their power levels. Harry just grinned since he noticed the Hufflepuff heir amongst them and Luna grinned too. Things returned to normal the next day and stayed that way for a week or so.

It was during their special session with Prof. Flitwick that the four heard about a sudden increase in power some of the Hufflepuff students were experiencing. Harry and Neville told him that they had experienced the same increase when their cores were unbound, maybe that was what happened to the other students. The professor admitted he hadn't thought of that and it would make sense, even if it was causing problems in his classes and McGonagall had said the same thing about her classes.

It was a few days later in their extra class with Prof. McGonagall that the subject was brought up again, but she just asked if any of them knew anything about what happened. Nobody admitted to knowing a single thing about it, but Hermione offered the same explanation that Harry and Neville had given Flitwick which seemed to satisfy her. The professor mentioned that they were getting into late sixth and early seventh year spells with Harry and Hermione; while Neville was getting into late fourth year spells and Luna was into mid to late second year spells. She said she was very proud of the four of them, that was when Harry suggested she might want to include a few of the Hufflepuff students that were showing improvement.

After a few minutes Harry asked if Prof. McGonagall would be kind enough to check her spells keeping out the other students and staff, once he was assured that the door was secure Harry asked everyone to have a seat. "Professor, if you remember last year and what I revealed to you then you will understand it when I say all four heirs are present at Hogwarts this year. At the request of Hogwarts herself I can't reveal the identity of the Hufflepuff heir, but Luna is the heir of Ravenclaw and it seems that I am heir to both Gryffindor and Slytherin, at least the magical heir of Slytherin. But that doesn't mean that I know where the Chamber of Secrets is located, that is still hidden. I will ask you to include this new information in your vow of silence from last year and that you write out an invitation to Prof. Flitwick and Prof. Sprout to join us at this time and I will have it delivered via elf post", Harry said.

McGonagall wrote out the note and a strange elf appeared and accepted it for delivery. McGonagall mentioned that she didn't remember seeing that elf before and Harry revealed that it belonged to Ravenclaw heir, Luna. It wasn't but a few minutes before Misty, Sprout and Flitwick appeared. Harry once again explained what had happened and asked all of the professors to also swear a new oath, the professors swore the new oath without any questions asked. Now Harry explained that while he had no knowledge as to the location of the chamber he would try to find out and see what he could do about the monster, but he might need their help. What Harry didn't mention was their animal forms (since nobody in the school knew about those) and that they could all do magic in those forms, especially him.

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**A/N: Well it is getting close to time to end this year and get started on year 3. The next couple of chapters will deal with the chamber itself and the end of the year. Now a question for you, are my chapters too short? The chapters seem to be getting shorter and farther a part.**

**Please be kind and comment**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hogwarts Year 2**

**Chapter 15**

A week later, after visiting Hagrid, the foursome was heading to the forest when they noticed someone trying to follow them. Harry quietly told the others to keep going and he would back track to see who was following them. As soon as they were in the forest Harry changed into his snake form and slithered into the bushes to watch their trail. He was surprised when something joined him and almost bite it until he saw it was Neville in his form.

The two watched as a person came up the trail, it was a lone Draco Malfoy. Harry wanted to just bite him but knew that would cause too many problems, so he just slithered along next to Draco and watched him. It soon became clear that Draco wasn't really following them but trying to hide in the forest for some reason. That reason became clear when Malfoy Sr. appeared and asked why Draco was late and what two girls were doing in the forest alone. Draco said he didn't know about the girls but had seen four people enter the forest and so he had been careful not to be seen.

Harry and Neville stayed hidden and listened as Draco and his father talked about why Draco was in so much trouble all of a sudden. Draco tried to explain but Malfoy Sr. wasn't interested in listening to excuses about new instructors and such. Harry noticed a long eared owl landing in the tree above the two Malfoys and an eagle landed in another tree close by. Both father and son were surprised when a large snake rared up from the brush and Lucius tried to shoot a spell at it only to have the spell bounce back at him. Then both found themselves floating in the air and suddenly being turned upside down. Draco still wasn't wearing much under his robes and it sounded like the owl and eagle were laughing. When the eagle flew down and took Lucius' wand from him and flew off things got loud, so loud in fact the area was visited by several Centaurs who objected to the presence of the two humans. Draco's wand fell out of his robes and was picked up by an owl who promptly flew away just as the two Malfoys fell to the ground.

"You humans are not allowed in the forest, we will not hurt the young one but if the adult comes back he faces death. You will leave the forest now humans", was all that was heard from one of the Centaurs. Both Malfoys were escorted out by Centaurs guards with their bows drawn and cocked and ready to spring until both Malfoys were many paces outside of the forbidden forest.

Harry changed to his human form and then into his Phoenix picked Neville up and flashed to where the two girls were roosting in the trees. Once all four were back in human form they had a real good laugh and Luna and Hermione both produced the wands of the Malfoys. Neville suggested just leaving them in the forest but Hermione said that wasn't a good idea since someone might find them and cause trouble. Harry said the best thing to do would be to store the wands in one of the heir rooms, after all Draco would get into more trouble since he didn't have a wand again. "You know we are making Ollivander rich selling wands to Draco and now another one to Malfoy Sr. We should ask for a commission on the sale of wands to the Malfoys from Ollivander." Luna said with a laugh.

The foursome decided that it might be a good idea to leave before the centaurs came back or found them. That was when a lone centaur came into the clearing and asked why the students were in the forest without Hagrid. The four were told it wasn't safe to be in the forest as the spiders were hunting for food and four students would make a nice meal. Just then a very large spider came into view and the centaur fired its bow at it and ran off to chase it away, or kill it. Harry told the others to change and return to the castle, he would carry Neville and meet them in the Gryffindor rooms, and the two boys were there waiting when the girls came in.

"Harry, I have a question for you. Why is it we can see the windows from in here but can't see them from outside?", Luna asked when they quit laughing, again.

"Maybe they have a disillusion spell on them left over from when Godric was alive", was Hermione's answer. Harry corrected Hermione and told them it was because of the runes carved around the windows on the outside. That reminded Harry that he needed to finish his rune homework before class the next day. But Hermione had a question that was really bothering her, "Harry, why did you raise up as a snake; you could have been killed."

"I wasn't too concerned about that since I've been practicing my spell work in that form at night. I have found that I can still cast most of my wand-less spells even in snake form. When I get in bed I cast a barrier spell to keep the noise down and prevent anyone from seeing into my bed. Then I can work on spells without Ron or the others knowing about them." Harry answered, then suggested the others try it also.

Things were quiet that night in the great hall, Draco was even more alone than usual only Goyle and Crabbe were sitting by him. Harry decided to listen in the Slytherin common room that night and overheard Draco trying to explain to Pansy why he didn't have his wand and how he was going to get through class the next few days. When the two got in to more adult activities Harry decided to leave, he had seen under Draco's robes enough and Pansy just didn't interest him that much. Harry's next stop was the ward chamber to put a little more energy into the system since it had been a few days and to replace some of the energy he had used unbinding the Hufflepuff students.

Classes changed the next day, the first class was DADA with Slytherin and that was a fun class since Malfoy didn't have a wand yet. This class was being taught by Sirius and it was almost all practical; they were practicing shield spells. Sirius must have been feeling good as he called Harry and Draco up in front of the class to demonstrate this type of spell. Harry assumed a dueling stance and waited for Draco to cast at him, but nothing happened.

"Mr. Malfoy why are you just standing there, and where is your wand? You can't duel with just your hands can you? I mean even a second year should know a few wand-less spells but nothing that strong." Sirius said.

Draco admitted that he didn't have his wand with him, it was in his room since he didn't expect to need it for this class. Draco was given 10 minutes to go and retrieve his wand and would lose 10 points every five minutes thereafter until he returned with a wand and demonstrated a shield spell. Sirius called Ron up to go against Harry and the results were comical since none of Ron's spells even came close to Harry. When it was Harry's turn to attack he had Ron on the floor laughing with his first spell, a simple Rictusempra – the tickling spell. Draco never returned to class so he lost 50 points for his house, 40 for being late and an extra 10 for being unprepared for class. All of the Slytherin students were upset with Mr. Malfoy and it showed that night at supper.

After class Harry stayed back to ask a question of the professors, and to tell Sirius why Draco didn't have a wand again. Lockhart couldn't answer the question, which was from third year Peaks, and Sirius had a hard time answering it also. Sirius was just almost rolling on the floor when Harry explained about Draco and Lucius leaving their wands in the forest and being escorted out by the centaurs. Sirius said he would have to tell Remus about that incident so Remus could get a good laugh also.

Things got worse for Draco since he had transfiguration that day, and McGonagall wasn't happy that once again Draco had come to class without a wand – another 10 points gone. McGonagall even asked if Harry or any of the other students knew what happened to Malfoy's wand. Nobody could, or would, answer that question, but they did tell her about DADA. It was after transfiguration that Harry passed Ginny and smelled that same smell that Harry got some idea as to what he was smelling, some type of snake. Harry made sure to tell the other three that night when they met up in the heir quarters.

After everyone was back in bed Harry called Daisy and asked her to deliver a message to Luna to meet him the next day alone. Harry and Luna met up the next day and Harry told her what he needed.

"Luna you and I are the only ones who know who the Hufflepuff Heir is, I would like you to see if you can get her to claim her heritage. You know what to have her do since you have been through this yourself. It might go better coming from you instead of me, but I will be there under my cloak just in case she balks and I have to do a memory charm on her." Harry explained.

Luna said she would see what she could do but that Hermione and Neville should be told about the heir. Harry agreed and said if Luna could get the heir into the quarters the others would be there too, only hidden until after she claimed her heritage. It was two days later when Harry was told that Luna had made contact and would talk with the girl that night. Harry told the other two what was going on and to meet him after supper.

As soon as supper was over Luna approached the Hufflepuff table and asked the girl in question for help with some class work since the heir was ahead of her in class. The two of them headed to the library to talk, and Harry, Hermione, and Neville headed to the heir quarters. Once in the quarters Harry asked that Hermione and Neville assume their animal forms while he got under his cloak. The three made their way to the Ravenclaw quarters since that was where Luna would take the newest heir.

It wasn't long before Luna managed to sneak herself and the girl into the quarters and Luna started to explain what was happening.

"Just to let you know I'm the heir of Ravenclaw and that is why I can access these quarters. Hogwarts has told me and the other heirs that you are the heir of Hufflepuff and that she needs you to claim your heritage. Since the other two heirs are males it was decided that I would be the one to show you the way. All you have to do is point your wand at the ceiling and say 'I (your name) declare that I am the rightful heir of Ravenclaw and I am prepared to assume the duties and the responsibilities which that entails. I pledge this on my magic. So mote it be.' if Hogwarts accepts you then she will reply, if she doesn't then your memory of this will be erased. But that hasn't happened yet since it was Hogwarts who told me who you were." Luna explained.

The girl looked confused but she raised her wand and recited the needed statements. She was surprised when she started to glow and heard a strange, but kind, voice reply, **"**_**We accept you as Heir of Hufflepuff and find you worthy of that title. If you will follow Ravenclaw into her chambers she will show you the way into your quarters as that door is now open to you both."**_

Harry, and the rest made themselves known and welcomed the newest heir. Harry explained that it might not be a good idea to reveal who the heirs were at this time. "Harry you I can see as the Gryffindor Heir, but who is the Slytherin Heir? Since Luna is the Ravenclaw heir, that makes three. Is it Hermione or Neville?" the girl asked.

"Actually, I am the heir of Slytherin, the magical heir that is, so now all four heirs are present. You need to enter your quarters and see what you find. You will also need to put your magic in with ours to power the wards of Hogwarts, but Luna and I can show you how to do that", Harry explained.

The five students entered Luna's "office" and there was the door to Hufflepuff, along with the doors to the other two heir quarters. Luna touched the Hufflepuff door and it opened, then she told the newest heir that the door to Hufflepuff would only open for the heir until she had claimed the quarters. They were all surprised when they entered the quarters as the picture of Helga Hufflepuff spoke, _**"Welcome my heir, now that all four heirs are present we the portraits of the founders can speak and advise you. But it is up to the heirs to find their heritage and the secrets we each hid from the rest of the world, so Slytherin you must find the Chamber of Secrets on your own as Salazar can not and will not tell you the location. Look around dear and please have this place cleaned, I never could stand a dirty room."**_

As soon as the door to the sitting room was open several elves started popping in and started in cleaning. Pappy came up and introduced himself and said they would have everything cleaned as soon as possible, he was thanked and told to take his time as the elves had much to do throughout the castle. That was when the door leading out was noticed, Harry suggested that the Hufflepuff heir wear his cloak and see what was on the other side. She was only gone a few seconds and came back to say that it opened just inside the Hufflepuff common room. Harry told her that she was the only one who could open the outside door and she had to allow anyone else entry.

Harry and Luna took the newest heir back into the office and had her open the ward chamber door and to lead the way downstairs, they also explained that only she could open the door at the bottom and nobody else (except another heir) could enter the passageway. Once inside the ward chamber they each stood beside the stand that represented their house and placed a hand in the impression. Three lines formed and connected to the center and with each other. After a few minutes Harry changed stands and added his power to the second one, now all four stands had interconnecting lines of power and connected to the center. The three returned to the Hufflepuff quarters and Neville immediately asked if he could look through the books on Herbology located in that library, he was granted permission.

The five of them remained in the Hufflepuff quarters for just a little while longer then went into the other quarters to show them to the newest heir. They were greeted by each portrait in the separate quarters, but it was Godric who told them that each heir had always been an animagi and the form represented their house and heritage. Hermione explained that each of them were able to change into animals, even if they weren't all heirs. Harry said they would work on the newest heir over the summer and get her up to speed.

They all returned to their beds after the rest of their houses were down for the night, but only after another warning to keep this a secret for now. It was three days later after supper when a new message was found written in blood:

"_**Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever"**_

This was written above another petrified student, Draco Malfoy. The student body was quickly sent to their dorms as the teachers were called to a meeting. Lockhart was late, as usual, but when he did arrive Flitwick was the one to reminded the staff that Lockhart had said he knew the location of the chamber. It was unanimously decided by the staff that he of course would go into the chamber and rescue the girl, Ginny Weasley. Not one of the teachers realized that Harry was in the room and heard all of this.

Harry returned to the others and told them what had been decided. Everyone agreed that he and Neville would "help" Lockhart since it was doubtful Lockhart even knew where the chamber was. Hogwarts had shown Harry and the other heirs where Ginny had been going, Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The girls would remain together with Reggie in the Gryffindor quarters so he could take them to Harry if needed. Harry and Neville found Prof. Lockhart not surprisingly packing his belongings with the plan to sneak out of the castle. After being confronted by two wands Lockhart surrendered his wand and was escorted to the bathroom.

While in the bathroom Myrtle told them about her death and what had happened to her. Harry approached the sinks in the middle of the room looking over the sink with a scrutinizing eye he noticed the serpent on one of the handles and decided to try his Parseltounge ability to open the entrance. Lockhart was pushed into the passage first, after all if the monster was there then better him than Harry or Neville. Lockhart had thought to jump the first one down but backed off when a large cobra came out of the passage instead of a student, without a wand he wanted nothing to do with that snake. Neville soon joined the other two, since Harry had changed back to human, and they started exploring the area.

It was when Neville stumbled that Lockhart tried to grab Neville's wand that the trouble started. Lockhart's spell just bounced off and hit one of the walls causing a shower of rocks to fall knocking Lockhart out and his own spell wiping his memory. Harry left Neville to take care of Lockhart while he continued onward. Harry soon found the entrance to the chamber itself and had to use Parseltounge to open the door.

Once inside it didn't take Harry long to find Ginny, lying at the base of a statue of a snake, a very large snake. While Harry was checking Ginny a shadow appeared and it looked to be a young boy about 16 years old. The shadow soon formed into a solid form; the shade explained that as Ginny got weaker he got stronger, then went on to explain that he was a memory left behind in a diary by Tom Riddle a student from fifty years ago. Riddle explained how he had duped an oaf called Hagrid into taking the blame for the actions of the heir of Slytherin.

Riddle even went so far as to spell out his full name in fiery letters and then rearranging them to spell out Lord Voldemort. Harry had had enough and Ginny was getting weaker by the moment. Standing up and bringing his staff to full size Harry confronted Riddle. **"As magical heir of Slytherin I deny you access to your magic and bind that magic as is my right as head of house. I call forth the power of Hogwarts and the three other Heirs to fulfill this task"**

Harry was joined by Luna and the Hufflepuff heir, both house rings appeared on Harry's hands and Luna's appeared also. The shade of Riddle withered and Ginny started to awaken. Harry shrank his staff, and started to glow as a large amount of magical knowledge was granted to him as the heir of Slytherin. Including the knowledge of what the monster was and how to summon and control it. Harry sent the other two and Ginny back to Hermione. Harry then called forth the monster, a very large Basilisk. Harry had learned, with the transfer of knowledge, that as the heir of Slytherin he was immune to the gaze of this snake, but not the venom. Harry was surprised when the Basilisk asked to be relieved of the duty of protecting the chamber, it was only through the magic of Slytherin that it had not attacked Riddle many years ago. The snake and Harry came to an agreement, the snake would drip venom onto the diary and in return Harry would find somewhere for the Basilisk to live other than the chamber.

Once the venom was on the diary Harry called the Sword of Gryffindor and stabbed the diary. A foul black cloud rose out of the diary and with a high pitched shriek disappeared. Harry collected several vials of the venom before leaving the chamber to return to Neville. Changing into his phoenix form he took Neville and Lockhart back into the castle and closed the entrance to the chamber, for now.

Neville returned to the quarters to bring the others up to date and to find out what had happened in the chamber. Harry took Lockhart and Ginny to see Madame Pomfrey, and then went to see Prof. Dumbledore in his office. Harry was not looking forward to this visit.

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**A/N: Alrighty then, we now have all four heirs alive and present at Hogwarts, let the fun begin. Now the final chapter for this year since the Chamber of Secrets has been solved.**

**Please be kind and comment**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hogwarts Year 2**

**Chapter 16**

Harry took the diary to Dumbledore's office, the Gargoyles guarding the entrance just moved out of the way without a password. Dumbledore was startled when he heard someone knock on his door; he wasn't accustom to not knowing when someone was coming up the stairs. The Headmaster was even more surprised to see Harry Potter come in when invited. Harry said he had a question for the Headmaster, "Did you ever know a Tom Riddle; or maybe as he was called, Lord Voldemort, about 12 years ago? Well this was his diary or journal since he was male. He left a memory of himself in it, or part of himself seems to be a more accurate description."

Dumbledore was stunned, what Harry was describing was very dark and forbidden magic. The fact that Harry had linked the names Tom Riddle and Voldemort was even more of a surprise. He asked Harry how he had come by the diary and Harry told him after he heard that Ginny Weasley had been taken to the Chamber of Secrets he went to see Prof. Lockhart to offer to help. Only he found the Professor packing to leave Hogwarts, and with Ginny in the Chamber Harry knew something had to be done to save her. Neville had also come to see the Professor and between the two they captured Lockhart, who had reluctantly admitted his only real magic was memory charms.

Harry went on to explain that thanks to Moaning Myrtle he had a pretty good idea where to find the entrance to the chamber. The entrance it seems was inside Myrtle's bathroom and could only be opened by Parseltounge, which conveniently, and thanks to Voldemort, he was able to speak. Once the three of them were down in the tunnel Lockhart tried to take Neville's wand only to have his spell backfire onto himself. Lockhart was now without any memory of who or what he was thanks to his own memory charm gone terribly wrong. Harry explained that he left Neville to take care of Lockhart and continued on by himself, he found another door secured by Parsel magic that he was able to open.

Once inside, he found Ginny laying on the floor unconscious at the foot of a large statue of Salazar Slytherin. "While trying to awaken Ginny I was approached by the shade of Tom Riddle who, after explaining who he was and how he got here, he then picked up my wand and called out a very big Basilisk. Luckily, Fawkes showed up with the Sword of Gryffindor and I was able to defeat the snake, but got bite. Fawkes healed my wound and I used one of the fangs from the snake to stab the diary and vanished the shade, then Fawkes lifted Ginny and I out of the chamber and I levitated Neville and Lockhart out. I took Ginny to see Madame Pomfrey and brought you the diary." Harry concluded.

Dumbledore was flabbergasted how did this all happen in his castle under his nose. A knock at his office door saved the Headmaster from having to react to the information presented to him by one of his students. Dumbledore was even more surprised to be "rescued" by none other than Malfoy Sr. Mr. Malfoy asked about the situation concerning the missing student and was assured that everything was under control. Harry noticed Dobby standing behind Lucius and watched Dobby point toward the man and the diary. As Lucius left Harry asked if he could borrow the diary for a few minutes, Dumbledore nodded and Harry took off after Lucius Malfoy, and Dobby.

Harry caught up with Mr. Malfoy at the bottom of the stairs and told him he had something that belonged to Mr. Malfoy. Harry handed the diary to Lucius who said, "I don't think this is mine, but I'll take it anyway. It may have some value", and handed the diary to Dobby. Harry motioned for Dobby to open the book and he did.

"Master has given Dobby a tie. Dobby is free", Dobby exclaimed.

Lucius turned around to see Dobby holding a Red and Gold tie, and Harry was missing his. "You have cost me my elf, for that you will pay", Harry heard Lucius say as he drew his wand. Suddenly Dobby was standing in front of Harry and told Malfoy he would not hurt Harry Potter. Dobby proceeded to toss Lucius backwards causing him to slide halfway down the hallway. When Lucius stopped he was looking up at three students with wands pointed at him. The male told him to be still or they would stun him, "I'm sure three students can stun you well enough for it to hurt", was heard from the boy.

Harry walked up, after summoning Lucius' wand and said "Mr. Malfoy did you not learn last time not to try and assault students? I guess not; maybe my godfather, Sirius Black, can impress that on you when he gets here. Oh, I'm sorry about Draco, maybe once the Mandrake potions are finished he can be returned to normal or as normal as he ever was." Harry called Reggie and sent him to get Sirius, the two of them appeared a minute or two later. After hearing what Malfoy had tried to do, Sirius bound Lucius and took him to the Ministry to file charges for assault on a minor – second offense. Harry thanked his friends and then took the diary back up to Dumbledore. Afterwhich he asked Dobby to come work for him and sent Dobby off with Gustus.

The next night was the end of term feast and everyone was enjoying all the great food. The meal had ended and Dumbledore stood to give his end of term speech when the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables were suddenly pushed further apart. One of the stones in the floor glowed and a woman appeared, standing on the stone.

"**I beg your pardon Headmaster but I need to address a few items before you dismiss the students"**, was heard by all in the room.

"And who might you be my lady, and how did you manage to get past the wards?" Dumbledore asked.

"**I might be anyone, but you may address me as Lady Hogwarts. I am the spirit embodiment of the castle and since all four heirs are now in the castle I can appear here. I have a few points to deduce and a few to award. First, Draco Malfoy loss of 50 points for bullying students. Second, Ronald Weasley loss of 50 points for failure to do your own work and failure to pay attention in class, another 20 points for being a git to your classmates. Third, Pansy Parkinson loss of 50 points for being a slut, but a gain of 10 points for using contraception spells.**

**Now to add a few points, first 50 points each to Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, and Harry Potter for caring more about their friends and other students than themselves. Second, another 20 points each to Hermione, Neville, and Harry for assisting the other students who had trouble in class and helping the instructors. Third, 200 points to Harry for rescuing Ginny Weasley from the Chamber of Secrets and finding that which has been missing for almost 900 years.**

**Now, on to the really important part of my visit – the decline of educational status here; I was pleased to see that someone finally noticed this decline and do something about it. You have tried to remove the notices from the ICW and the Board of Governors, but were unable to do so thanks to me and a little help from my elves. Prof. Cuthbert Binns is expelled from this castle, go on to your final reward or next adventure; you have remained here long enough. Mr. Snape, you don't deserve to be called a Professor due to your extremely poor teaching methods. You will no longer be allowed to favor your own house, in fact you are to remove your belongings and find other quarter as you are no longer considered head of Slytherin by me.**

**Prof. Trelawney, I will not expel you from the grounds but you have polluted the air here long enough with your incense. I am aware of the reason that the Headmaster allows you to stay and will allow that also, for now. But no teaching; you have defiled your ancestors name enough.**

**Headmaster, you may have noticed that you no longer control the wards at Hogwarts castle that is because the heirs and I now control them and will continue to do so for a long time. Over the past 500 years the wards set by the founders have been corrupted and warped. Thanks to the efforts of the heirs the wards have been repaired and improved. The headmaster will no longer have control of the wards, but you are required to provide magical energy on a monthly basis to help maintain the wards. Failure to do so will result in you being removed from the castle in a most unpleasant manner.**

**Now, I feel that my purpose here tonight has been completed. I will leave you with one last thought; do not try to determine the identities of the Heirs. It is their request that they remain anonymous and I honor that request, as do the ghosts of the castle as they are aware of whom the Heirs are and why they want to stay hidden for now. Mr. Longbottom, I would ask a favor of you; please notify your grandmother that I request a full board meeting here within the next month. She can just notify Headmaster Dumbledore and I will know when to reappear, there are a few other issues that need to be addressed by the board."** With that the spirit disappeared and the tables came back to their original places.

Everyone just sat there in shock, especially Dumbledore. After a few minutes of silence Dumbledore once again rose to offer his end of term speech and to award the house cup. "Well that was interesting and a good prank; but I'm sure Mr. Longbottom you don't need to deliver that message", Dumbledore said just before the Great Hall shook and the same voice spoke again. **"Dumbledore, do not try to override my requests unless you want to leave in a most uncomfortable way. A man your age should not be wearing underwear with Snitches on them. Oops, sorry that was Malfoy with the Snitches, you sir are, as they say, going commando"**.

Dumbledore paled, Draco blushed, and everyone laughed. Harry and Hermione both looked at each other and smiled; they knew what "going commando" meant, even if the non-muggle raised students didn't. Dumbledore finally pulled himself together and awarded the House Cup to Gryffindor along with the Quidditch Cup. He told them to enjoy the summer vacation and he would see them next year, he hoped.

The train ride home the next day was quiet; Malfoy didn't show his face the whole trip. Hermione, Neville, and Luna kept asking Harry if he had anything to do with the appearance last night. Harry told them he was as surprised as everyone else, but had suspected something would happen now that all four Heirs were known and Hogwarts was up to full power again. The foursome was met by Sirius, Augusta, and Mr. & Mrs. Granger when the train arrived at platform 9¾. They all agreed to get together in about a week or so to see who was going to Peaks this summer. You could almost hear the laughter miles away that night when Harry told about what had happened at the leaving feast and what Hogwarts had said and done.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that ends Year 2. The only ones who know who the last heir is are Harry, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Helga Hufflepuff, and myself. We decided not to reveal the identity until Year 3, Hogwarts accepted this person but the Goblins have not verified them, yet. The board meeting will take place over the summer so it will be included in Year 3's tale. I guess my Slytherin side is showing ****.**

**Please be kind and comment**


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